Pasco recently celebrated the completion of its Process Water Reuse Facility (PWRF) project, built to handle the expansion needs for eight food processors in the area, including Darigold’s new processing plant.

The project includes multiple buildings and treatment structures at 957 E. Foster Wells Road, Pasco, near the intersection of Foster Wells Road and Highway 395.

It encompasses the Pasco Resource Recovery Center (PRRC) on about 34 acres and the addition of 329 million gallons of storage lagoons on about 54 acres.

The PWRF’s primary use is to treat industrial wastewater effluent from the nearby food processors. However, it also turns the wastewater into numerous reusable materials using the principles of industrial symbiosis. It recovers nitrogen from treated wastewater using an algae-based system that can be used in algae-based bioproducts and renewable natural gas, which is sold to Cascade Natural Gas.

The PRRC was built and is owned and operated by Burnham RNG on behalf of the city of Pasco as part of a strategic public private partnership between parties.

The total cost for the improvements was $180 million.

The facility can treat up to 8.5 million gallons per day of industrial food processing effluent in two 34 million-gallon anaerobic digesters.

The digesters produce two primary biproducts: biogas, which is piped over to an on-site gas upgrade pad where it is purified to pipeline quality renewable natural gas (RNG), and wastewater, which is then passed through an algae-based nitrogen recovery system.

The fully treated effluent can be stored during the winter months then used for land application on farmland owned by the city.

The project was operational Dec. 31, 2024.

Swinerton Energy served as the general contractor for the construction of the PRRC

Tapani Inc. was the general contractor for the storage lagoons.

Xylem provided engineering design services for the anaerobic digesters, Gross Wenn Technologies provided design for the greenhouse, Biogas Engineering designed the biogas upgrade pad and the balance of plant design and RH2 designed the storage lagoons.