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Council considers $3M basin rehab and $450k wastewater-plant cleanup to reduce inflow and infiltration
Summary
Staff recommended a $3 million basin-by-basin sewer rehabilitation program and $450,000 to remove grit and rags from aeration basins and inspect clarifiers at the wastewater treatment plant; staff said prior neglect has led to accumulation that could cause costly emergency repairs if left unaddressed.
City utility staff asked council to approve a multi-year approach to sanitary-sewer rehabilitation and wastewater-plant repairs aimed at reducing inflow-and-infiltration and single points of failure.
"We approved the contract with the Lopez Utility last month and they're about to start work. Basin 18 is the first one they're gonna start on videoing that, to basically look at a whole basin at a time," a utilities presenter said, outlining a basin-level strategy rather than piecemeal repairs.
For the wastewater plant, staff described three to four feet of sand and silt in an aeration basin (an estimated 3,500 cubic yards) and noted current removal prices of roughly $300 to $320 per cubic yard; the $450,000 request is sized to remove and inspect one basin this year with the intention of three years to clean the entire plant.
Staff argued that preventive maintenance and regular recoating/replacement programs are less costly than emergency repairs, citing previous clarifier failures that cost council emergency meetings and large expenditures.
