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Livingston staff report year‑long repairs complete at water reclamation facility; both basins back in service
Summary
City wastewater staff told the Livingston City Commission they restored both basins at the water reclamation facility after cascading mechanical failures starting October 2024, completed in‑house repairs and component replacements, and are conducting extra testing to comply with discharge permits.
Trace Tidwell, superintendent of the Livingston water reclamation facility, briefed the commission on the facility’s multi‑month recovery from a series of mixer and mounting failures that began in October 2024. He said the failures threatened simultaneous loss of both basins and that staff took emergency measures to operate the plant on a single basin while repairing the other.
Tidwell said staff installed a temporary bolt to prevent a catastrophic separation, lowered pumps to provide interim mixing, coordinated with vendors to manufacture a more robust middle mount (designed and built to exceed original load capacity), cleaned out accumulated solids, replaced aeration discs and membranes, and used a combination of in‑house labor and outside contractors. He estimated roughly $200,000 of repair work went into one basin and credited extensive in‑house labor for cost savings.
The plant team also imported seed sludge and staged internal sludge to restore microbiological activity and said both basins are now operational and closely matched in MLSS and flow testing. Tidwell described additional testing above permit requirements to ensure effluent quality and noted an ongoing seven‑year maintenance program for the basins after the forced maintenance cycle.
Commissioners and colleagues praised the WRF crew’s work, noting cross‑training and family support; one commissioner said the city avoided a potential environmental incident. Tidwell and staff said they would continue monitoring performance and expect the plant to run within permit limits.
What’s next: Staff will continue extra monitoring, incorporate lessons learned into capital planning and maintenance (CIP), and return with further updates on related funding and equipment replacement schedules.
