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Hillsborough wastewater superintendent details in-house fixes, KDHE-funded upgrades to tackle iron and manganese
Summary
Wastewater superintendent Morgan Marler told the council the plant’s restricted flow was caused by calcium buildup at a chemical injection point and described in-house repairs, a $1 million KDHE forgivable loan to test oxidants and equipment upgrades aimed at reducing iron and manganese in customers’ taps.
Morgan Marler, Hillsborough’s wastewater superintendent, told the City Council the treatment plant had been operating under a severe flow restriction that staff traced to a sodium‑hydroxide injection port where calcium had “salted out.” “We can get 3,500,000 gallons a day through that plant,” Marler said, “and we were being restricted somewhere to about 400 gallons a minute.”
Marler described how crews used an inline camera to find the clog, removed a problematic 90‑degree section of pipe, and bought a small $800 tool to clear and prevent the same blockage—work Marler said avoided contractor quotes of $25,000–$30,000. He said the plant was offline for about 2.5 days while crews completed the repair.
Marler also outlined a KDHE forgivable loan of $1,000,000 to address emerging contaminants and water‑quality issues. The city is reconfiguring upflow clarifiers to run in series so staff can trial oxidants such as chlorine dioxide and sodium permanganate to reduce iron and manganese before water reaches filters. “This gives us much greater diversity in the chemistry application of the plant,” Marler said, noting the goal is to reduce the frequency and cost of customer discoloration events.
Marler cautioned that watershed programs like WRAPS help over the long term but do not immediately remove decades of sediment-bound iron and manganese from the reservoir; he said recovery could take many years. He asked council members to expect more technical briefings as staff moves from experimentation to permanent installations and safety upgrades tied to the loan.
