What Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District does

Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District (MGSD) is a Nevada Special District Enterprise Fund, formed in 1964 under the federal Clean Water Act, that provides wastewater collection and treatment services to the greater part of the towns of Minden and Gardnerville in Douglas County, Nevada. The district operates a single treatment facility originally built in 1967, expanded multiple times (most notably in 1977 at $2.6 million and on a recurring $2-3 million cadence every 2-3 years since the mid-1980s), processing approximately 2 million gallons per day through ~60 miles of gravity-flow collection lines with a 15-hour treatment cycle. Core technology is biological wastewater treatment using bacteria and microorganisms; treated effluent is reused for agricultural irrigation. The plant's low-valley location enables gravity-driven collection, eliminating lift stations, and the site is equipped with covered primary clarifiers, sludge thickeners, and chemical/biological odor-scrubbing systems. A $1.4 million Grease Receiving Station and Co-Generation system commissioned in 2011 converts brown waste grease from food-service establishments into energy, generating nearly 55% utility cost savings within its first months of operation.

MGSD's business model is a regulated utility model funded primarily through mandatory sewer user fees billed quarterly (January, April, July, October) to property owners within its defined service territory. The district operates as a monopoly franchise and does not engage in active customer acquisition. Customer segments are residential property owners (primary) and commercial food-service establishments (secondary), the latter subject to a Grease and Oil Control Program requiring minimum 750-gallon grease interceptors. Revenue is supplemented by acceptance of effluent from the Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District under a 1974 service agreement. Rates are set by the Board of Trustees following a rate study; multi-year increases were approved in October 2023 effective January 1, 2024, with incremental annual increases phased through 2029. The district is governed by a Board of Trustees meeting monthly, holds an NDEP discharge permit under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 445A, employs approximately 15 full-time staff across administration, operations, laboratory, and maintenance, and supports ancillary services including plant tours, commercial plan review ($205 fee), and a PlanetBids construction bidding portal.

Name

Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District

Legal name

Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District

Website

https://mgsdistrict.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District is a Nevada Special District Enterprise Fund that provides regulated wastewater collection and treatment services to residential and commercial property owners across Minden and Gardnerville, funded through mandatory quarterly sewer user fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wastewater Treatment Services

NAICS

Sewage Treatment Facilities (221320), Water, Sewage and Other Systems (2213)

SIC

Sanitary Services (4950), Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Water Supply & Wastewater Utilities Administration (BPAIACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Municipal Wastewater Collection (Sewer Networks) (BPALAMAA), Treatment Plant Asset Programs (Process Assets, Electrical/Mechanical Systems) (EUANALAL)

Keywords

• Wastewater treatment services
• Sewer collection systems
• Sanitation district services
• FOG compliance programs
• Biosolids management

Headquarters

HQ city

Minden

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Sewer User Fees: As an Enterprise Fund Special District, MGSD must have its wastewater treatment services funded primarily through user fees. Quarterly billing schedule in January, April, July, and October. Fees are based on property ownership, not tenant accounts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

MGSD provides wastewater collection and treatment services to residential and commercial properties in the Minden and Gardnerville communities of Nevada. The district uses biological treatment processes at a facility capable of treating approximately 2 million gallons per day, with treated water reused for agricultural purposes. Services are billed quarterly and tied to property ownership within the service territory.

Product overview

Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District operates as a Special District Enterprise Fund providing comprehensive wastewater treatment services to the Minden and Gardnerville communities since 1964. The core offering is sewer and wastewater treatment using biological processes, augmented by a co-generation system that converts restaurant grease waste into energy. Services include quarterly billing with online payment options through PayFabric, a Grease and Oil Control Program requiring grease interceptors at food service facilities, plant tours for educational purposes, and developer services for commercial plan submittals. The district also manages bidding opportunities for construction projects through the PlanetBids portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wastewater Treatment Services Sewer and wastewater collection and treatment for residential and commercial properties in Minden and Gardnerville, Nevada. Biological treatment process where bacteria and microorganisms break down waste, with treated water reused for agricultural purposes. Facility treats approximately 2 million gallons per day with a 15-hour average treatment time.
• Online Bill Payment Quarterly billing service for sewer use fees with online payment options through PayFabric portal, including one-time payments, auto-pay, and paperless billing. Bills are issued in January, April, July, and October. One-time payments require a minimum of $40; smaller bills roll into the next quarter with no late fees.
• Grease and Oil Control Program Enforcement program requiring all food service facilities in the service area to install grease interceptors with minimum 750-gallon capacity to prevent FOG (fats, oils, greases) discharge to the sanitary sewer system. Prevents sewer blockages and overflows.
• Plant Tours Educational tours of the wastewater treatment facility, available by contacting Inspector Andrew Marshall or via email. Tours support community education about wastewater treatment processes.
• Plan Submittal Services Commercial plan review and submittal services for developers requiring 2 full-size paper copies and 1 digital set of plans with a $205 submittal fee. Required for new construction projects connecting to the MGSD system.

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement DistrictcoreOthers · 1 January 1974In 1974, MGSD entered into an agreement to accept effluent from the Gardnerville Ranchos General Improvement District, expanding the district's service coverage.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• American Water Works Company: The largest publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater utility, operating regulated and contract operations across many states. Provides a broad-incumbent benchmark for regulated-monopoly economics, rate-base capitalization, and infrastructure-investment cadence in water/wastewater.
• Veolia Water North America: Operates water and wastewater treatment assets and provides contract operations across the U.S. Comparable as a large incumbent in municipal wastewater services, including outsourced operations of municipal and special-district systems similar to MGSD.
• SJW Group: A holding company for regulated water utilities including San Jose Water and Connecticut Water. Comparable as a publicly traded regulated water utility whose valuation provides a reference point for rate-base-based equity value for similar small utilities.
• California Water Service Group: A California-based regulated water utility holding company serving over 2 million people. Comparable as a regulated water/wastewater operator with similar regulatory and rate-base dynamics, though at vastly greater scale.
• Essential Utilities: Multi-state regulated water and natural gas utility (formerly Aqua America) with growing regulated wastewater operations. Comparable as a diversified regulated utility with a wastewater-services growth pillar relevant to small-district acquisition strategies.

Direct peers

• Truckee Sanitary District: A small sanitation district serving Truckee, California, with a similar scope of wastewater collection and treatment, environmental-discharge regulatory exposure, and small-team operating model directly comparable to MGSD.
• South Tahoe Public Utility District: A nearby special district providing water and wastewater service to South Lake Tahoe with comparable scale, similar rural-mountain customer base, and the same regulatory model of utility service within a defined California territory.

Emerging players

• Middlesex Water Company: A small-cap publicly traded water utility serving New Jersey and Delaware. Comparable as a smaller-scale, regulated investor-owned utility whose scale and operational profile are closer to MGSD than the large incumbents.
• Artesian Resources: A small publicly traded water utility serving customers in Delaware, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Comparable as a smaller-scale regulated water utility providing investor-owned benchmarking for the small-district model MGSD operates.

Regional players

• CleanWater Services: A special district providing wastewater and surface water management services to the Tualatin Basin in Oregon. Comparable as a special-district utility operating under a similar regulatory and rate-funded enterprise-fund model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/minden-gardnerville-sanitation-district

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Minden Gardnerville Sanitation District