Facilities

Water Works Park has been a source of pride for southeast Michigan since 1879. It served as the first branch of the Detroit Public Library and as an architectural marvel, with a minaret-like stone tower that rose 185 feet in the air. Now that it is home to GLWA’s newest water treatment plant, the park will continue to be a source of high-quality drinking water for years to come.

The plant can produce up to 240 million gallons of water of unquestionable quality per day and is the largest plant in Michigan to use ozone, a disinfectant more potent than chlorine. 

The Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant began full-scale operations in 1974 and has expanded to meet the needs of a growing population just north of Detroit. The plant’s current pumping capacity is 400 million gallons per day.

The Northeast Water Treatment Plant became the Detroit water system’s third water treatment plant. It was part of a $52 million expansion program, which included transmission mains, a reservoir and booster station. Dedicated in 1956, the plant was built to meet the needs of suburban communities, as it does to this day. The plant’s current pumping capacity is 300 million gallons per day.

Detroit’s fourth water treatment plant became operational in 1964. The plant was acquired by the City of Detroit in a lease-purchase agreement as part of a consolidation of water services in southeast Michigan. The plant’s current pumping capacity is 240 million gallons per day.

The Springwells Water Treatment Plant is the system’s second-oldest water treatment facility. At the time of its dedication in 1935, it was the largest water treatment facility in the world.

A $35 million expansion program in 1959 increased the plant’s pumping capacity from 340 million gallons per day (MGD) to 540 MGD.

The Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF), formerly known as the Wastewater Treatment Plant, is the largest single-site wastewater treatment facility in the United States. It services the needs of Detroit and 76 other communities in a service area of more than 946 square miles.

The treatment plant was originally designed to provide primary treatment (screening of solids and chlorination) for the wastewater generated by 2.4 million people. The plant’s service area in 1940 included Detroit and 11 nearby suburban communities.

Secondary treatment (more rigorous screening, treating and disinfection of biodegradable solids to produce an even cleaner effluent) was introduced in the 1960s. The Water Resource Recovery Facility continues to be the recipient of continual upgrades to ensure it is capable of maintaining the most stringent regulatory standards.

In 1999, the Michigan section of the American Society of Civil Engineers named the Wastewater Treatment Plant one of the top 10 engineering projects of the 20th century.

The Baby Creek facility is another screening and disinfection facility that uses fine screens and disinfection to treat combined sewage flows that pass through it. The site area includes the Woodmere Pumping Station that services a 450-acre portion of the Baby Creek tributary area.

The regional system's largest CSO control facility has dramatically improved water quality in Conner Creek and the Detroit River since going into operation in November 2005. High-speed mixers are used to rapidly disinfect flows and achieve the required fecal coliform limits.

The Hubbell-Southfield CSO retention treatment basin (RTB) is one of GLWA’s most active, longest operating CSO facilities and the largest on the Rouge River. Since August 1999, it has been effectively capturing and treating combined sewage through screening, settling and disinfection to meet discharge permit requirements that protect public health.

Located next to the Tournament Players Championship Golf Course in Dearborn, this RTB serves as an example of how our facilities can be good neighbors and blend in with the surrounding environment. The facility features an innovative design that enables three different operational modes within the RTB and prevents resuspension of solids during large storms with high flow rates.

The Leib facility was constructed to address a large outfall on the Detroit River and to demonstrate the effectiveness of horizontal and vertical fine screening. High-energy mixers are used to mix sodium hypochlorite, maximize bacterial kill and minimize discharge of residual chlorine to the Detroit River.

The Oakwood retention treatment basin (RTB) is designed to provide CSO treatment through storage, fine screening and disinfection. This facility includes a major influent pumping station that increased the level of service for the Oakwood District and helped alleviate basement flooding in the upstream area.

Located in Eliza Howell Park, the Puritan-Fenkell CSO retention treatment basin (RTB) is the third Rouge River CSO RTB. Despite its small size, the Puritan-Fenkell proved that 20 minutes of detention time for settling and disinfection of the 1-year, 1-hour storm event peak flow is sufficient to meet protection of public health standards. The 2.8-million-gallon facility became operational in August 1999 and eliminated two untreated CSO outfalls.

The St. Aubin facility was constructed at the same time as the Leib facility; it uses the same technology but a different type of screen. While St. Aubin is much smaller, it plays an important role in addressing the water quality along Chene Park where concerts and other events are frequently held. This facility has operated successfully since 2002.