RR&R Department Celebrates 50 Years

The Resource Recovery and Reuse (RR&R) Department has played a pivotal role in Metro Water Recovery’s mission to protect the region’s health and environment by cleaning water and recovering resources. Metro recently passed a milestone by celebrating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of this department.

RR&R was established in 1974 by William “Bill” Martin, who served as director from 1974 until his retirement in 1999. There have been seven directors in the department’s history including the current director, Patrick Stanley. Stanley, who has been with Metro for nine years, feels that the best is still to come for the department.

“I think the culture of the organization has drastically improved with the leadership of Mickey and Liam,” stated Stanley, referring to Chief Executive Officer Mickey Conway and Chief Operating Officer Liam Cavanaugh. “It got us to where we sit today.”

Fleet Maintenance Manager Rob White has been with Metro for 38 years and serves as RR&R’s longest-tenured employee. He agrees with Stanley’s sentiment, “the overall structure of how Pat runs the department is why morale is the highest it’s ever been.”

Being with RR&R for most of its history, White credits technology and innovation as some of the biggest changes he has seen with the department. “The equipment and the quality of the equipment we use has changed all for the better.” The humble beginnings of the department’s fleet may look dwarfed by the size and scope of the department’s current form. Today, the department has a fleet of 20 tractor trailers, with 22 operators who load 31,000 dry tons of product per year driving to area farms six days a week. 

Another substantial change that White witnessed during his career with Metro was the switch from liquid sludge biosolids to the current METROGRO® cake, which is created by dewatering the biosolids. In the late 80s and early 90s, the liquid sludge being used transitioned to the METROGRO® cake used today. In earlier years, liquid sludge was hauled to lagoons to be used on the old Lowry bombing range. Today METROGRO® cake is used on over 300 farm sites in Colorado.

One of the biggest moments for the department was the purchase of METROGRO Farm. The initial purchase of the farm occurred in 1993. Then, in 1997, additional land was acquired, bringing the farm footprint to 80 square miles. In 2002, the METROGRO Farm shop was constructed to service vehicles on-site. At the METROGRO Farm, crops such as winter wheat, barley, and milo are grown using biosolids from the Robert W. Hite Treatment Facility in Denver and the Northern Treatment Plant in Brighton.

In addition to transporting biosolids from our facilities, RR&R services Metro’s fleet of vehicles. “We support all the divisions at Metro,” explains Stanley. “If it rolls, we service it.” Metro’s wide range of carts, Gators, EVs, trucks, farm equipment, and tour vans are just some of the many vehicles that RR&R services in their shops.

Whether it is transporting biosolids to farms with Metro’s fleet or fixing a sluggish cart, the RR&R team has been a vital department for the past 50 years of Metro.

Here are more of RR&R’s milestones throughout the years:

• RR&R was established in 1974 by William “Bill” Martin, who served as Director from 1974 until 1999, when he retired.
• In the 25 years since Bill’s retirement, RR&R has had seven different directors, including the current director, Patrick Stanley.
• Before 1980, biosolids were hauled to lagoons on the old Lowry bombing range to spread and incorporate into the ground.
• In 1980, RR&R purchased three new trucks, tanker trailers, and two spreader trucks to inject biosolids into the ground.
• In 1986, the compost facility was built along with a new maintenance shop at RWHTF.
• In 1987, the TerraGators® were converted from liquid injection systems to spreader boxes, allowing the cake to be applied year-round, switching to the solids application. This created $500,000 in savings annually.
• In the mid-90s, Metro relied upon this five-wheeled TerraGator® rear-discharge spreader for land applications of biosolids.
• The first part of the METROGRO Farm was purchased in March of 1993 from Tom Thompson. The rest of the Farm was purchased in 1997.
• In 1997, RR&R participated in a revegetation research project with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in the Buffalo Creek Forest fire location. Biosolids compost was applied in varying amounts to prepared test plots.
• In 1998, RR&R participated in the mine tailings remediation project near Leadville.
• The construction of the Farm shop began in 2002.
• Composting operations were shut down in late 2008 in preparation for the South Secondary Improvements Project (PAR 1085).
• In 2016, the Transmission Division joined RR&R.