By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. That “someone” was a trio of city employees. The decision now is how to pay for the rest of the project.
Air lines in various aeration tanks at the Decatur Wastewater Treatment Plant on Monmouth Road are in need of replacing, Wastewater Superintendent Karey Fuelling told the city’s board of works and safety at its recent meeting.
“It is in our best interest to replace all of them,” Fuelling pointed out. “The aeration pods are no longer working.”
They have been in service for 14 years with very little maintenance, Fuelling continued. There are three main lines, 1,008 pods.
The “dirty work” done by plant employees cleaned three tanks containing 600,000 gallons of mixed liquor (micro-organisms), Fuelling pointed out in a report.
It was noted that the “labor intensive cleaning” took two weeks with three people in the tanks (at right in photo; pods are at left); one jet truck and one vacor truck were used.
City Infrastructure Manager Josh Zimmerman said “no one expected things to be in such poor shape.”
“My sense is that you saved us $70,000 by cleaning that out by by ourselves,” Mayor Dan Rickord said. “I appreciate you doing this.”
Many pods are no longer sealed and are falling off when hit. Main lines and runs are brittle, with some broken, according to Fuelling’s report.
The question now is how to finance replacement of the air lines. Sanitaire of Charlotte, NC, has given the city a quote of $81,500 to complete the project. Fuelling, however, said that was an absolute top price; “I don’t see us needing that much,” she noted.
Hackman asked about the possibility of using ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funds to go along with budgeted funds, but board member Craig Coshow said he would rather hang on to the ARPA money for later use.
It was agreed that with the Country Butcher beef processing business likely going into operation the first of the year, the wastewater operation needs to be at its peak.
So it was decided to move ahead with ordering parts – 8 to 10 weeks out – and use some further investigation and discussion to figure out how to fund the project.