The Snyderville Basin Water Reclamation District filters nearly everything out of the water coming from area residents’ toilets and drains.
The debris comes in all shapes and sizes and includes phosphorus, pharmaceuticals and microplastics.
“We are able to provide the high-level treatment because we use very sophisticated equipment that is sourced worldwide,” reclamation district General Manager Mike Luers said on KPCW’s “Local News Hour” May 28.
And that means President Donald Trump’s tariffs are top-of-mind.
A $6,400 piece of odor control equipment was in transit from Canada when tariffs went into place, and the wastewater district paid a $1,550 tariff on it, Luers said.
“Some chemicals that we use on a daily basis, those raw materials come from overseas. We're seeing a 10% tariff on that,” he added. “We recently made an order for some large equipment at our East Canyon facility. It's almost a $1 million purchase, and hopefully that will be covered by the Mexican-Canadian free trade agreement.”
The district made its purchases in advance of Trump’s new tariff policies, and it's unclear which of them will still be in place once the equipment reaches American soil.
U.S.-Canada-Mexico Agreement-compliant goods were always exempt from the tariffs. The wastewater district is on the hook for a $220,000 tariff if its East Canyon equipment isn't covered under the agreement.
Late May 28, a federal judge blocked much of the president's sweeping April 2 tariffs, which he imposed under the International Economic Emergency Powers Act.
Then on May 29, Bloomberg reported an appeals court reinstated the tariffs, while it considers whether to uphold the lower court's ruling or not.
Luers isn’t sure if tariff-related costs mean increases for local residents, yet.
“The question is, what will be the future of these tariffs? Are they going to be short-lived? Are they going to be long-lived?” he said. “Certainly, if we're paying a 25% tariff on big equipment, that's going to have a very negative impact on our budget, and we would have to pass that cost on.”
So the district is holding off on a planned expansion of the East Canyon treatment facility in Jeremy Ranch citing higher interest rates and tariff uncertainties.
Those aren't the only unknowns downstream of the feds.
The district collects data on disease levels in Summit County, thanks to federal health grants. And Trump’s administration is planning to cut the National Institutes of Health budget by 40% this year.
That could shrink the Summit County Department of Health, but the exact effects on local health and wastewater operations are still murky.
Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW. For a full list, click here.
