WASHINGTON, DC - The City of Aurora, Colorado’s Sand Creek Water Reuse Facility was awarded a National Recognition Engineering Excellence Award at the American Council of Engineering Companies banquet on Tuesday. The award was presented in the nation’s capital in conjunction with Consulting Congress Day. Eight hundred people attended the event held at the Grand Hyatt Washington Hotel.

Kevin Wegener, City of Aurora, Manager of Wastewater Operations commented, "We are very pleased to receive this national recognition along with Richard P. Arber Associates. The innovative design of the Sand Creek Facility is a model that will be followed by communities throughout the Rocky Mountain West."

The Denver based consulting engineering firm of Richard P. Arber Associates designed the 5 million gallon per day state of the art water reuse facility that provides water to irrigate 600 acres at parks, golf courses and greenbelts throughout the City. The $10 million facility combines biological nutrient removal, alkalinity monitoring, and UV light disinfection that gives the City of Aurora a system that meets both present and anticipated water quality standards. Water reuse has proven to be not only ecologically sound but also economically viable in Aurora, as development costs of recycled water for the City are 50% less than developing new potable water supplies. The project was constructed by Weaver General Construction.

"Of the dozens of water reuse projects we’ve done in the past 20 years, the Aurora project has been one of the most rewarding," commented Rick Arber, President, Richard P. Arber Associates.