Town of Jackson Wastewater Treatment Facility

1970s wastewater infrastructure can no long support our town and county's needs.

Increasing numbers of year-round residents and unprecedented visitor numbers has put Teton County in the position to treat the waste from millions of people with wastewater treatment infrastructure from the 1970s.

The Wastewater Treatment Facility was originally constructed as an outdoor lagoon system in the late 1970s and upgrades were made to the plant in 1995. Since then, there has been huge population growth as well as an influx of visitors, and advances to technology that render the use of the lagoon system outdated and ineffective.

The treatment plant discharges effluent back into the Snake River. A lagoon system cannot treat to the highest level of water quality, or treat the effluent on a year-round basis. Lagoons have a limited ability to reduce ammonia due to seasonal temperature fluctuations, particularly in the winter months. Ammonia converts to nitrates in the environment.