Since the sun provides much of its energy, the Rifle Regional Wastewater Reclamation Plant finds it doesn’t need much electricity from the utility grid. But that hasn’t kept the staff from looking for ways to save energy: By tweaking plant operations, they have cut energy use by 20 percent.Put online in November 2009 to meet new ammonia nitrogen discharge requirements for the Colorado River, the $23.3 million facility in West Rifle, Colo., uses three oxidation ditches to clean the wastewater from 10,000 residents about three hours west of Denver. With a design flow of 2 mgd, the plant averages 1
