The Howard Bend Treatment Facility is presently the second purification and pumping plant
for the City of St. Louis. Located on the Missouri River 37 miles above
the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, Howard Bend can be
found 15 miles west of the City limits, near Olive Street Road and Ladue
Road in Chesterfield. Howard Bend is smaller than the Chain of Rocks Plant, and is
capable of pumping 236 million gallons per day. Not only does Howard Bend
provide water for the St. Louis City, but also sells a portion of its treated
water to utilities in the counties of St. Louis and St. Charles. The treated
water that is city-bound is pumped into a 100 million gallon storage reservoir
at Stacy Park.
The original plans for the Howard Bend Treatment Plant were made as early
as 1904, but the actual construction on Howard Bend began
in 1923, as did the construction of its reservoir at Stacy
Park. The Howard Bend Treatment Plant opened in October of 1929 and immediately
went into service.
The initial layout of Howard Bend consisted of a variety of basins, including
presedimentation and coagulation basins, which were equipped with newly
invented Dorr Clarifiers. This enabled continuous residue removal from the
basins. Howard Bend's capabilities also included recarbonation and filtration
facilities. The filter plant contains 20 filters, half the number that can
be found at the Chain of Rocks Plant. In 1931, five new basins were constructed
to expand the capacity of the plant. The self-contained steam power of Howard
Bend was replaced in 1972 with complete electrical power.
After the Flood of 1986, plans for a new flood wall at Howard Bend began.
Finished seven years later, the new flood wall protected Howard Bend from
the Flood of 1993. Without its protection, the plant would have gone out
of service and suffered considerable damage. Instead, Howard Bend continued its constant and dependable
service of providing drinking water throughout the flood to St. Louis City
and its wholesale cusomers in St. Louis County and St. Charles County.
There are ongoing improvements being made to Howard Bend. In 1998, the construction
of a new chlorine facility began. Repair began on some of the basins in
1998 as well, and both projects are expected to be finished within the year.
