22
INDUSTRIAL WASTES AT SIOUX FALLS, '
SOUTH DAKOTA ,        ;
R. E. Bragstad, City Engineer ¦ /•',.
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
The city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a population of 45,000 is situated in a fertile agricultural region. Its principal in¬ dustrial life revolves around a large meat packing plant and public stockyards. Otherwise, it is largely a retail, jobbing and distribu¬ tion center.
The only trade wastes of serious concern originate in the Pack¬ ing Plant and Stockyards District and it is with such wastes and their treatment that we are here chiefly concerned.
Prior to the year 1927 the city, in common with the practice of hundreds of other American communities, disposed of its domestic and industrial wastes directly into the waters of the Big Sioux River. The name of this water course can be quite misleading, for there have been seasonal dry spells when the dilution factor approached dangerously near the zero point; a fact which can be extremely dis¬ comforting to anyone who operates a treatment works and at the same time attempts to maintain the integrity and cleanliness of the natural stream.
Since Provident Nature has wisely given to its stream the ability to absorb and stabilize considerable quantities of waste organic matter our great urban communities have proceeded to take undue advantage of this fact by carelessly allowing them to become polluted with sewage.    In this respect the Sioux Falls was no exception.
In the year 1911, John Morrell and Company established a meat packing plant at Sioux Falls and, following usual practice, made no provision for disposing of its industrial wastes other than conducting them to the bank of the river. The city, which then had a popula¬ tion of but 15,000, welcomed with open arms this important and thriving addition to its industrial life. Little did the officials of that day realize what such an industry would mean in terms of the conservation of natural resources. . ,      ,
During the next decade the city and its industries experienced a healthy growth, with the inevitable result that the city found itself faced with a major stream pollution problem.
Vigorous threats and protests from downstream riparian own¬ ers stirred the city to action, with the result that in 1925 initial steps were taken to provide treatment of sewage and industrial wastes.