![An Oregon City Saves $55 Million With a Natural Approach to Wastewater Treatment](https://cole-tpomag.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tpomag.com%2Fuploads%2Fimages%2Feric_klann_for_tpo-0015.jpg?crop=focalpoint&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&h=620&ixlib=php-1.1.0&q=75&w=1024&s=e1331146dfc90a5cca1fb1ceaf443120)
The Prineville team includes, from left, Chris Weaver, utility worker; Eric Klann, city engineer; and Daren Holliday, treatment plant operator. The Crooked River Wetland Project wetland cells are in the background.
Faced with borrowing $62 million for a new wastewater treatment plant, the city of Prineville, Oregon, wanted an alternative. Community leaders found it in the $7.7 million Crooked River Wetland Complex, which now receives a large share of the effluent from the city’s 2.31 mgd...