DES MOINES – Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced that $8.3 million in matching grants have been awarded to assist five companies in upgrading water infrastructure at Iowa manufacturing and industrial facilities in Boone, Davenport, Dubuque and Fort Dodge. The awards were made through Iowa’s Water Infrastructure Fund (WIF). 

The funds will assist in upgrading systems to reduce the heavy demand placed on the state’s surface and ground water resources and will lessen the local utility’s need to treat wastewater that is used for industrial purposes. 

“Iowa has a long history of innovation to improve water quality and sustainability, and these projects continue that legacy,” said Gov. Reynolds. “We rely on our land and water to provide for Iowa’s future generations, which is why we remain focused on protecting, preserving, and restoring Iowa’s water resources.” 

These awards are a part of Gov. Reynolds’ historic $100 million investment in water infrastructure and water quality efforts for the State of Iowa aimed at reducing excess nutrients, improving public health, promoting reuse of water and wastewater, and providing significant economic benefits to communities and the state.  
 
Project Details:  

AgCertain, Boone 
WIF Grant: $3,915,000 
AgCertain in Boone is a food, agricultural and bio-based product development, manufacturing and marketing company that will use WIF funds to implement a reverse osmosis system to meet the water needs for the existing facility and projected expansion. The project is estimated to reduce water usage from the City of Boone by nearly 85%, lower water transportation costs by more than $1.2 million per year. 

Arconic, Davenport 
WIF Grant: $2,205,277 
Arconic produces fabricated aluminum products, serving the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets. Arconic’s water reduction project will utilize water filtration and Reverse Osmosis (RO) units to reclaim and reuse spent process wastewater from its production process.  The company estimates that this project will reduce their water withdrawal by nearly 77%. 

CJ Bio, Fort Dodge 
WIF Grant: $1,857,442 
The CJ Bio plant in Fort Dodge produces the amino acids that are added to swine and poultry feed. A byproduct of this process also allows plant to produce a liquid soil amendment that adds nitrogen back to the soil. This project will include a large-scale reverse osmosis (RO) water purification system. The company estimates that this project will reduce their water draws from the City of Fort Dodge by approximately 600,000 gallons/day and their wastewater discharge by approximately 760,000 gallons/day. 

Hormel Foods, Dubuque 
WIF Grant: $57,813 
Hormel Foods is a food products manufacturer specializing in a variety of shelf stable meat-based products. The WIF grant will be used to implement utilization of excess reverse osmosis concentrate water that is currently being sent to the industrial wastewater system, which will increase system efficiency, reduce chemical usage and lower costs. The company estimates that this project will reduce their water demand from the City of Dubuque by 9% and their wastewater discharge by nearly 12%. 

Prairie Farms, Dubuque 
WIF Grant: $275,350 
Prairie Farms Dairy is comprised of more than 600 farm families throughout the Midwest and is a producer of high-quality dairy products. Prairie Farms will use the $275,350 WIF grant to upgrade its Dubuque location to a new energy efficient compressor system to reduce incoming City water to the plant and reduce discharge to the City’s wastewater treatment system. The upgraded system is estimated to reduce annual water costs by $85,000.

View award details here.