I recently spent a few hours on an architectural photography shoot at the newly renovated Olmsted County Water Reclamation Plant in Rochester, Minnesota, for Knutson Construction and RSP.

The Water Reclamation Plant treats wastewater for the city’s residents, industries, and numerous visitors. The original plant was built in 1926 and was one of the first wastewater treatment plants to operate in Minnesota. Since that time five additional major upgrades have occurred to comply with effluent regulations and meet the needs of the growing Rochester community. The Water Reclamation Plant is located at 37th Street NW and West River Parkway.

The Water Reclamation Plant is staffed 24 hours per day and has 30 full time employees. The site is situated on 32 acres with buildings covering 8 acres. There are two parallel treatment processes used on site. The High Purity Oxygen (HPO) plant was placed into operation in 1983 and the Aeration Basin Complex (ABC) was placed into operation in 2007. The Rochester Water Reclamation Plant currently treats an average of 13 million gallons of wastewater per day using a combination of physical, chemical, and biological steps to treat pollutants. The wastewater goes through at least ten different steps, which takes approximately 24 hours to complete, before the water is discharged to the South Fork of the Zumbro River.

Rochester, Minnesota, photographer, Dean Riggott, has specialized in commercial, editorial and corporate photography since 1991. Besides corporate photography he also specializes in agricultural, architecture, healthcare, science, industrial, product and Rochester, Mn, photo stock.