Sackett Contracting & Excavating, of Nordman, Idaho, has won a $1.1 million contract to replace an aging gravity sewer system for the Ponderay Shores Water and Sewer District in Pend Oreille County, Washington.

Work will begin this month to replace the old sewer system, which serves 36 homes located about two miles south of Usk, along the Pend Oreille River, says Travis Gallimore, a project estimator for Sackett Contracting.

The project will take about a month to complete, he says.

In the project, Sackett Contracting will construct a new drain field and collection system for the rural Ponderay Shores subdivision. The work will include constructing a new gravity sewer with a two-way pump chamber that will feed the sewage into an ultraviolet filter to kill bacteria, then pump the wastewater into a pressurized drain field, Gallimore says.

Usk is located about 45 miles north of Spokane on state Route 20.