Office Site: 1797 West 1000 South Orem, UT 84058

Phone: 801 – 229 – 7470

Email: Publicworks@orem.org

Jet/vacuum sewer line cleaning trucks.

The City of Orem owns and operates three jet/vacuum sewer line cleaning trucks. One of which has a camera system that allows the maintenance crew to visually see the interior of the lines during cleaning to help identify any problems in any specific sewer line. We feel it is very important to remove grit and debris, meaning dirt or articles other than the raw sewage in the Collection system, rather than have it build up and cause problems downstream or at the Water Reclamation Facility.

The City of Orem has a very proactive cleaning program, cleaning the entire sewage collection system every 2-3 years. There is also in place a routine cleaning schedule that is done on a weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly and bi-annual basis to assure good reliable sewer service in areas of the system that need additional cleaning. The City also owns specialized equipment that allows the crews to remove and kill tree roots in the lines and remove grease build-up that occurs in certain areas.

All sewer emergencies, backups, etc. are responded to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, within 30 minutes of when the call was first received. Any customer experiencing sewer related problems can call the City Public Works Department at 801-229-7500 during regular business hours or the City Public Safety Department at 801-229-7070 after hours or during weekends or holidays.

Orem utilizes an extensive manhole and line data system that includes every manhole and line segment having a physical address and a unique ID number. Attached to these addresses is information giving line depth, line sizes, pipe diameters and type of pipe. Each manhole and line segment has a G.P.S (Global Position System) location. This information is recorded on a G.I.S (Geographical Information System) database, then transferred into an ArcView and AutoCad map format.

Information gathered by every member of the crew on a daily basis is recorded on laptop computers that are provided in all maintenance vehicles. These devices also give each crew member-specific information about the system at any given time.

This maintenance program is a very extensive and complete collections management and maintenance data base. This system is and will continue to be very beneficial by providing information to city personnel, public, contractors, and independent engineers.

A van with sewer inspection gear.

The TV Inspection van is responsible for inspecting and mapping out all-new sewer line installations in the city before they are accepted by the city and the bond is released to the contractor. When the Inspection van is not inspecting new lines, it is kept busy televising older lines in the system to determine the integrity of the existing lines and identifying any problems found within the infrastructure and making recommendations for the correct action to remedy the problem. The Inspection van updates the information to the Collections database daily. The Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera has the ability to televise and record sewer lines from any manhole in the system. Conditions of lines, the exact location of sewer lateral connections, root intrusions, or any other problem that may inhibit the normal function of the system can be identified.

Another service the TV Inspection van provides for the residents of Orem is a mini-scout camera system, a small camera on a push cable that can inspect the homeowner’s sewer lateral and help them identify problems and offer solutions from an unbiased party.

This work team is made up of individuals that are very highly trained in electrical instrumentation and electronic control technology. Almost every part of the Water Reclamation Facility, including the six lift stations, has components that regulate flows, monitor treatment conditions and stages, turn selected pumps and equipment on and off at predetermined intervals, and send vital control information to a centralized computer system. This information is then manipulated with control software to allow precise control and information to the operators so that the plant can be operated at its peak efficiency. Another duty is to maintain a control system in the facility which monitors operations both during and after regular hours. This system alerts operators of equipment failure or malfunction so that people can respond to analyze and diagnose issues to assure continued efficient operation of the facility with minimal interruption.

A construction crew using an excavator to dig a hole.The City of Orem has a small crew of employees that identifies and repairs line problems, manhole issues, and broken hardware. Repairs to the lines are made by either digging down to the line or with trenchless technology which allows for repairs to the line through the manhole access points. This allows repairs to be made quickly and with minimal interruption to traffic flows. The crew is fully equipped with proper equipment and materials, along with the proper training, to perform these duties safely and efficiently. This crew assists the cleaning and inspections crews with traffic control on busy streets to maintain good traffic flows and provide safe working conditions. They are also equipped with specialized equipment to provide safe entry in to confined space locations where atmospheric dangers can compromise working conditions. The national OSHA safety regulations are followed to the letter to minimize risk during work operations.

A worker using the pre-treatment van to help filter wastewater.The term pretreatment means the reduction of the number of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to, or in lieu of, discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a publicly owned treatment works (POTW). The requirement to develop and operate an industrial pretreatment program was promulgated by the USEPA and became effective on March 30, 1981.The General Pretreatment Regulations are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR 403. Under the regulations, any POTW with a design flow greater than 5 million gallons per day (mgd) must establish a pretreatment program as a condition of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Orem City has developed a pretreatment program and obtained approval from the State Division of Water Quality to administer its pretreatment program with authority to permit, monitor, and enforce the requirements of the program. Orem City has legal authority to impose fines on any user for non-compliance within the provisions of its wastewater control ordinance and pretreatment program. Orem City monitors the discharges of all significant industrial users (SIU’s) within its boundaries. SIU is a term assigned by the USEPA to industries meeting specified criteria based on their potential to impact, interfere, or upset the ability of a treatment plant to treat the wastewater stream and meet its discharge standards. The total industrial flow of Orem City is estimated to make up 10 to 12% of the total plant flow.

Orem oversees industrial waste from three jurisdictions. These include “Orem, Lindon and parts of Vineyard”. Orem’s Industrial Pretreatment Program’s purpose is to protect the sewer collections system, citizens, workers, the Publicly Owned Treatment Works and the environment. Orem City currently has 1 Coordinator, 1 Inspector and 1 Part Time worker. More information can be accessed in the City Code (Chapter 20) regarding pretreatment requirements. If you require additional information, please feel free to contact the City of Orem Pretreatment Coordinator @ 801-229-7491or the Water Reclamation Section at 801-229-7471 during regular business hours.

Orem Pretreatment oversees an average of 260 food permitted industrial users, 90 automotive industrial users and 10 Significant Industrial Users (of the 10 SIU’s 9 are Categorical industrial users) annually.

Sewer line trucks.

The Collections (Sewer Lines) Utility is a Section of the Water Resource Division of Public Works.

The City of Orem Waste Water Collections system is approximately 340 miles of sewer pipe ranging from 6 inch to 48 inch in size servicing approximately 24,325 sewer connections.

There are a total of nine full-time employees plus one seasonal employee and a section manager, that work in the collection department. Our primary job is to maintain Orem’s Collections system. Ensuring that the public encounters no sewer lines problems. In order to accomplish this, the city has a variety of specialized equipment for maintaining the collection system.

If you are experiencing a sewer related problem during working hours 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday Call 229-7500 or 229-7470. After hours, weekends and Holidays call police dispatch @ 229-7070.

An overview picture of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The plant, which is located on 37 acres in southwest Orem, is meeting the challenges of City-wide growth, as well as striving to be a good neighbor to the businesses/residents located around the plant. Orem Water Reclamation facility is designed to treat an average daily inflow of 14,000,000 gallons from domestic, commercial, and industrial sources. Presently, 8,000,000 gallons of wastewater are treated each day, reducing the impurities to a level that meets the present state and EPA requirements.

Orem City’s Water Reclamation Plant is a modern wastewater facility with 16 full-time employees and 2 flexible employees. Before 1958, a large catch basin, similar to a septic tank, was all that was used to treat wastewater in the city. It was located somewhere in the vicinity of the I-15 freeway, directly west of UVU. With a growing population, the first modern treatment facility was built and went online in 1958. Since then Orem has been continually upgrading and expanding the plant’s ability to maintain the highest quality treated wastewater. Treatment Stages Headworks

  • Removal of solid objects from waste water
  • Removal of grit from waste water
  • Wash and dispose of the objects and the grit that were removed from the waste water primary Treatment
  • Primary clarification
  • Removal of settable solids
  • Removal of oil and grease from the waste water
    Secondary Treatment Activated Sludge Biological Nutrient Removal Process
  • Produces a biological floc of microorganisms that removes the organic material suspended in the waste water
  • Biological nutrient removal (BNR) removes total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) from wastewater by moving this population of the microorganisms through several different environmental conditions in the treatment process Secondary clarification
  • Settles out the biological floc
  • Removes the remaining grease and other buoyant matter
  • The settled biological floc (sludge) is then separated into Return Activated Sludge (RAS) and Waste Activated Sludge (WAS)
  • The WAS is removed from the system and then processed through anaerobic digestion
  • The RAS is returned to the BNR process to maintain the population of microorganisms in the system disinfection
  • Ultra Violet Light: Final treatment of the treated and cleaned water to eliminate any potentially harmful pathogens from the treated water before discharge to Utah Lake. Solids Treatment and Disposal Sludge Thickening
  • Increases solids in the sludge by reducing the amount of water in the sludge
  • This is accomplished through the use of a Diffused Air Flotation unit (DAF) Two Stage Anaerobic Digestion Thermophilic to Mesophilic
  • A bacterial process in which sludge is digested through the absence of oxygen
  • Reduces the amount of the organic matter and microorganisms in the sludge and creates a byproduct of biogas (methane)