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Engineers update officials on wastewater plant updates

SALEM

The next phase of construction at the city’s wastewater treatment plant will replace some obsolete equipment so ancient it predates all the workers.

The primary clarifiers, which are sedimentation tanks used to reduce solids as part of the wastewater treatment process, date back to 1928 at the plant located on Pennsylvania Avenue. They will be replaced. Another piece of equipment, a sludge thickening tank dating back to 1957, will be eliminated while a third primary clarifier tank from 1985 will be repurposed for sludge thickening.

Those are just a few of the details shared with members of the Salem Utilities Commission and utilities personnel during a work session held Thursday with Phase 2 project engineers Zack Held and Bob Schreiner from Burgess & Niple, the firm hired to design the latest phase of upgrades at the plant and oversee construction.

Utilities Superintendent Don Weingart confirmed that the project will improve primary treatment of the city’s waste, replace outdated equipment and improve the efficiency of the operation. The cost is currently estimated at $5.7 million for the construction and engineering.

Commission Chair Bob Hodgson said besides the fact that they’ll be getting rid of 90-year-old and 70-year-old equipment that isn’t working right, the city also has mandates to meet from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency related to sludge. He said the project will result in greater efficiency and lower costs.

“We need to get it done,” he said.

The service building will be used to house new electrical equipment to replace the old equipment. The lab will remain in that building, where new lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and a new ceiling will be installed. Office areas will remain along with a conference room that will serve as the area for the plant operators. A new administration building will be constructed next to the existing three-bay garage, with restrooms, a kitchenette and a large conference room on the first floor and offices and storage and HVAC equipment on the second floor. Hodgson asked if a ramp could be installed so the building will be handicapped accessible, which Held didn’t think would be a problem.

Held said another major component of Phase 2 will be the installation of a sludge storage pad, giving personnel the ability to store dewatered sludge on site for at least 180 days or until the sludge (the material left after treatment) can be applied to farm land.

Weingart said the new pad is important to the operation to have that ability to hold sludge because it will create a cost savings from not having to ship the sludge to a landfill. He said the application to farm lands can be beneficial to the farms, although application to farm lands is becoming more restrictive. Hodgson said the pad helps with OEPA compliance since the ability to store sludge on site is being required.

Schreiner pointed out to the commission and personnel that the pad will be designed so if the city decides to do it’s own dewatering of the sludge, it can be accommodated.

During the overview, the schedule was provided, showing the plans will be submitted to the OEPA this month and also to the state building department. The proposed schedule is showing possible approval by OEPA in September, which is when the project will be advertised for bids. The bid opening is slated for November before Thanksgiving, with awarding of the project in December. Completion of the 18-month construction is set for June 2020.

The commission entered into executive session for a phone conference with legal counsel regarding litigation, with no action taken.

mgreier@salemnews.net

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