Utility Advisory Board recommends 2024 wastewater CMAR to city council, hears updates on dryer, lining and televising

The River Falls Utility Advisory Board voted to recommend the wastewater treatment plant 2024 Compliance Maintenance Annual Report (CMAR) to the City Council after a presentation by water/wastewater staff and a brief board discussion.

The CMAR is a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) requirement. Water/wastewater superintendent Dean Seemuth summarized plant-performance tests and related maintenance work, saying the report and the board recommendation are needed so the council can complete its required approval. "Our limit per the DNR is 30 milligrams per liter per day, and we average 6.2 liters per day," Seemuth said about biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). He reported similarly low readings for total suspended solids (TSS) and phosphorus and said the plant operates with minimal fluctuation because of prior facility improvements.

Why it matters: the CMAR documents whether the plant meets permit limits and how staff use inspections and capital work to keep the system within DNR requirements. The board’s endorsement triggers the next step: forwarding the CMAR to the City Council for formal acceptance, a step Seemuth and staff said the DNR requires.

Key facts and technical details: Seemuth told the board the plant’s daily BOD average is 6.2 milligrams per liter against a 30 mg/L limit; TSS averages 5.4 mg/L against a 30 mg/L limit. He described ammonia testing protocols and stated the plant’s daily ammonia average was 0.13 (reporting that the plant is subject to separate summer and winter ammonia limits — "2 for the summer, 5.7 for the winter," as noted in the presentation). Seemuth said monthly-average phosphorus currently measures about 0.41 mg/L and that the city’s permit is under review and likely will return with a 0.75 mg/L limit.

Operations and maintenance updates: staff emphasized routine lab work and ongoing maintenance. Seemuth named a lab technician, Josh, as the person who performs the daily tests. On sewer cleaning, staff said the DNR recommends cleaning 20% of sewers annually; River Falls runs a 25% rotation and cleans one-quarter of the system every four years. Televising work exceeded recommendations: the city completed nearly 30,000 feet of televising last year against a 15,000-foot recommendation, and staff said most of the city’s sewer mains have been televised in the past eight years. Slip-lining work this year completed roughly 3,200 feet of pipe; the board discussed a planned lining program budgeted at $175,000 a year for the next 10 years.

Projects and timeline: Seemuth gave an update on the biosolids dryer building: most components have been delivered; while one electrical component had been delayed into August, staff said it is now expected by June and that the project remained on track for a late-summer completion target (staff mentioned an August 31 date as a target). The city’s contract with West Central Wisconsin Biosolids for hauling/processing expires Dec. 31; Seemuth said the city expects a phased transition, likely decreasing loads starting Sept. 1 and ending by year‑end, and that mutual aid with remaining facilities has been discussed though no written agreement exists. Staff also said paving work tied to the dryer project will be coordinated with Monarch (the contractor) and public works; the first lift of paving will extend to the treatment plant gate this year with final work to follow.

Board action and next steps: a board member moved and a second was made to approve the resolution recommending the CMAR; the board took a voice vote and the resolution passed. The board directed that the recommendation be sent to the City Council for its required approval under DNR procedures.

Discussion vs. decision: the article separates matters discussed (plant performance metrics, televising, sewer cleaning strategy, dryer commissioning risks and mutual-aid possibilities) from the formal decision (the board’s vote to recommend the CMAR for council approval). Several board members asked implementation questions about the dryer timeline, completed lining footage, and televising coverage; Seemuth provided the clarifications recorded above.

Ending: staff said they will correct a minor typo in the CMAR memo before submission (Seemuth noted he had inadvertently printed one TSS number in the wrong field), finalize the dryer commissioning schedule, and forward the CMAR recommendation packet to the City Council per the DNR requirement.