TPWA: Sewer odor from low bacteria in city's SBR tanks

Feb. 16—A strong smell of sewer has been reported by residents around Tahlequah, and local officials are blaming the failure of two measures put into place by Tahlequah Public Works Authority.

During the Feb. 16 TPWA meeting, Darrell Curtis, supervisor of the wastewater plant, explained what was causing the smell. When crew members drew down the solids levels in the sequencing batch reactors, they were unable to get the sludge or bacteria needed to reseed the tanks.

"We were in an effort to reseed our SBRs because we were right at the cusp of being in compliance one more time, so we drew the solids down on our SBRs. We had plans set up with Pryor [Oklahoma], to pick up sludge and reseed them as soon as we got the solids down," Curtis said.

Solids cannot be left down for any length of time, and the SBRs can't be overloaded, Curtis said.

"So we drew them down to load them, which is typically what you do to reseed them and get them back healthy. When we made the attempt to go to Pryor to get the sludge [we] couldn't get a semi in there," Curtis said.

The trucks got stuck in an effort to load the sludge and couldn't get through the fence. A new plan to add bacteria from TPWA's digester failed when the vacuum truck quit.

"Those were the two 'fail-safes' we had in place. We are now, as we speak, hauling sludge up from Stilwell to replace it, so in a few days, it should start improving," Curtis said.

The odor isn't as bad as it was previously, but there is still a smell, Curtis said.

Cool air keeps the fumes close to the ground and so they aren't traveling very far. Around the bypass early in the morning, it is really strong, Curtis said.

"I work out at Aerofit at 4 a.m. and it was terrible, and there was dense fog," said Todd Mutzig, board member.

Finance Director Beth Bailey updated the board on the December financials. In the electric department, revenue was $1,469,543 and expenditures were $1,518,754, leaving a net loss of $49,210. Revenue for the water system and plant was $496,670, and expenditures were $289,417 for distribution, $139,633 for the Teehee water plant, and $75,290 for Tenkiller operating expenditures, creating a net loss of $7,943.

For the sewer system and waste water treatment plant, revenue was $338,129; sewer department expenditures were $153,757; and waste water treatment plant expenditures were $158,292, creating a net gain of $26,079. Warehouse expenditures were $65,827; administrative revenue was $5,696; operating expenditures were $208,825; non-operating revenue was $57,107; and the apportionment to the city was $99,899.

Net loss for all departments was $73,865, Bailey said.

Capital expenditures for the electric department were $1,577; for water department, the amount was $5,060; sewer department expenditures were $1,650; and for administration, the expenditures came to $660 for the month of December, Bailey said. Total capital expenditures were $8,948.

"The large difference between this year and last year in December is due to colder temperatures, and in January we had the cold [snap], and we paid for January's electricity, but we haven't billed it. We are billing it right now," Bailey said. "The apportionment to the city is January's income."

Approval was given on a bid for $16,595 for the purchase of a 1-1/2 ton truck. Six bids were sent out and only two were received back. The new truck will replace a 20-year-old truck that has more than 138,000 miles on it.

Steve Tolar, HUD Engineering, reported the boring project along South Muskogee Avenue is almost complete. The project is to update the water lines for the widening of the avenue, along with the addition of a turn lane.

U.S. Highway 62 water line relocation project design is almost complete. HUD is working with Oklahoma Department of Transportation to determine the required amount of reimbursement.

"We have to go back and look at how much of that line was in roadway right-of-way and how much was in private easements to begin with. The ratio determines how much is reimbursable," Tolar said.

The south side sewer improvements — Phase II on the Indian Meadows housing addition — is on hold, waiting on a response from Department of Environmental Quality on the plans.

Several invoices were approved for HCCCO for the work on the wastewater plant, and for HUD Engineering.

The payment of combined invoices of $46,634.21 leaves just under $600,000 left on the HCCCO contract.

What's next

The next TPWA meeting is March 15, 9 a.m. at the TPWA office, at 710 W. Choctaw St.