A grant will help the city of Fort Dodge get ready for the possibility of welcoming industries that have special wastewater treatment needs.

The $200,000 grant will pay most of the cost of an engineering study on constructing a wastewater treatment facility called an anaerobic digester. An anaerobic digester will clean up wastewater that is far dirtier than anything now discharged into the city’s sewers.

There is no immediate need for that system, according to Chad Schaeffer, the city’s chief development officer. He said the study will lay out how one can be set up so that the city is prepared for the future.

He added that having the study in hand will enable local officials to tell industries looking at the community that the city has a plan to handle their wastewater.

“We’re just trying to get ahead of the game here,” he said. “This will maybe give us a little leg up in recruitment of industries.”

The grant is from the Iowa Economic Development Authority. But the money originally came from the federal government’s COVID relief package.

The study will cost $250,000. The city government will provide the remaining $50,000.

Schaeffer said McClure Engineering Co., of Fort Dodge, will be hired to do the study.