Wastewater

Nine residential developments headed to Wilmore will nearly double the number of city sewer customers, and the current wastewater treatment plant - last updated in 1988 - might need an upgrade to handle the influx. A facilities plan is the first state-required step in expanding the existing treatment plant, or looking for alternative solutions, said Dave Carlstedt, director of utilities and public works for the city. "If you ever think you will have to update our water treatment plant, it is a necessary step," he told the Wilmore City Council Monday.

Nicholasville recently received much-needed funding that will allow it to complete sewer and wastewater projects in the form of an $11.23 million low-interest loan. "This is an important project for Nicholasville and Jessamine County," State Rep. Bob Damron said. "The low cost loan will save our taxpayers in Nicholasville over $2 million over the term of the loan. " The money will be used toward the closing of the East Brown Wastewater Treatment Plant and construction of a new interceptor sewer to improve the Jessamine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant located off Shun Pike.

An employee of W. Rogers Company of Lexington jackhammers rock for the installation of a 48-inch influent line into the Winchester Municipal Utilities Wastewater Treatment Plant on Van Meter Road. The influent line will connect on one end to the line coming from Winchester and on the other end to the new headworks intake station, which is part of the new $22 million wastewater treatment plant, which has been under construction since the summer of 2005. The new plant is designed to handle 7.2 million gallons of waste per day. The plant also is designed to handle a greater amount of wastewater on occasion when the water influent in Winchester is high because of heavy rainfall.

Construction crews have been working to decommission Winchester Municipal Utilities' old wastewater treatment plant now that the company's new $23 million plant has begun processing waste. The new plant on Van Meter Road came online in late January and is designed to handle 7.2 million gallons of wastewater per day, with a peak handling capacity of up to 20 million gallons per day. Although it is operating, the new plant will not officially open until this summer. Officials began work on plans to construct a new treatment plant 15 years ago to meet future capacity needs and resolve sanitary sewer overflow.

Winchester Municipal Utilities will discuss a policy revision for wastewater billing at its regular meeting tonight. The suggested revision would allow residential sewer billing adjustments for outdoor water leaks, filling and maintenance of swimming pools and lawn/landscape watering, but only when the actual usage has doubled from average usage. The adjustments would be limited to one time per calendar year per customer. In the proposal, if the adjustment is for a water leak, the resident will be required to show proof of repair, and it won't be considered if the wastewater enters the sanitary sewer system.

Monday morning was a landmark day for Winchester Municipal Utilities, which began processing sewer waste at its new $23 million wastewater treatment plant on Van Meter Road. The new plant is designed to handle 7.2 million gallons of wastewater per day with peak handling capacity up to 20 million gallons per day. The plant is only "substantially complete," which according to contract documents means it is certified by engineers and capable of functioning. However, total project completion is not expected for several months.

Local industry Osram Sylvania was recognized for outstanding performance by the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference of the Water Environment Association for the company's participation in an industrial wastewater pretreatment program at Winchester Municipal Utilities. Osram Sylvania was one of only two companies with no violations in 2007, and the WMU Commission celebrated the award last week. Pictured are, from left, WMU General Manager Vernon Azevedo; David Schuler, facilities and environmental manager for Osram Sylvania; Kevin McGary, plant manager for Osram Sylvania, and Mike Flynn, manager of WMU's pretreatment program.

Danville will take out two additional Junction City sewage pump stations, on Mitchell and Henry streets, as part of its major reconstruction of the system there. Originally, the project was to have eliminated only the Toombs Curve pump station, which overflows regularly, and install a larger trunk line. It will now eliminate three pump stations. The work will correct problems that caused the state to order a sewer tap-on ban in Junction City. The ban has stunted development there.

Dirt is being moved at the site for Winchester Municipal Utilities’ new $28 million wastewater treatment plant, marking a major advance in efforts to satisfy environmental mandates. Last month, crews for Smith Contractors of Lawrenceburg began blasting and preparing the property at 7055 Boonesboro Road, with completion expected in January 2013. Once the project is finished, wastewater from the southern half of WMU’s service area will drain by gravity into a new pump station on Water Works Road.

HARRODSBURG - The money poured in Thursday for Mercer County water and sewer projects. Several local and state dignitaries gathered at Bright Leaf Resort to hand out checks and break ground for wastewater improvements to the Bright Leaf area. United States Department of Agriculture representatives also presented a check to the Lake Village Water Association for line improvements. The Bright Leaf project will be the first one undertaken by the 3-year-old Mercer County Sanitation District.

LANCASTER - The city council voted Monday night to adjust the pay grade of the incoming superintendent after the resignation of Lancaster Wastewater Plant Superintendent Millard Rose. Rose is quitting after 26 years of service to the city, with his official last day to fall on Feb. 15.  Rose said in a phone interview he is leaving simply because he is “too old for all this bickering,” regarding questions and disagreements with the budget being spent at the sewage treatment plant.

This is the closest the City of Winchester and the Winchester Municipal Utilities have come to a consent decree deadline, but the Lower Howard's Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant will still be operating prior to the Jan. 1 deadline. Flow will be cut from pump stations and transitioned to the plant beginning Monday. While that is a six- to eight-week process, WMU General Manager Mike Flynn said, the deadline for eliminating the sanitary sewer overflow will still be met, thanks to a back-up plan.

STANFORD — The Lincoln County Sanitation District has been formed to address the ongoing problem with failing septic systems contaminating local creeks.   Judge-Executive Jim Adams recently appointed five members to oversee management, planning and operations of Lincoln County’s wastewater facilities. The district will not interfere with services already provided by the cities of Stanford, Crab Orchard, Eubank and Danville. Also, the group of five will be responsible for continuing efforts to protect county watersheds and waterways.

Dirt is being moved at the site for Winchester Municipal Utilities’ new $28 million wastewater treatment plant, marking a major advance in efforts to satisfy environmental mandates. Last month, crews for Smith Contractors of Lawrenceburg began blasting and preparing the property at 7055 Boonesboro Road, with completion expected in January 2013. Once the project is finished, wastewater from the southern half of WMU’s service area will drain by gravity into a new pump station on Water Works Road.

Winchester Municipal Utilities expects to break ground this month on its new $28 million wastewater treatment plant, a key milestone in the utility’s ongoing consent decree with environmental regulators. The WMU commission approved a construction contract Thursday with Smith Contractors of Lawrenceburg. The firm plans to begin work before the end of the year and finish ahead of the official January 2013 deadline. WMU also hired Palmer Engineering to perform administration and project management services under a $1.65 million contract.

Winchester Municipal Utilities will avoid decommissioning its old wastewater treatment plant and save more than $1 million under a new deal that allows a Central Kentucky aquacultural firm to raise fish at the facility. On Thursday, the WMU Commission unanimously approved an agreement with Aquila International of Versailles, which plans to cultivate hybrid striped bass and paddlefish in tanks and lagoons at the retired plant off Van Meter Road. “That has saved the utility the expense of decommissioning those facilities,” said WMU General Manager Mike Flynn.

For the fifth time in seven years, the Nicholasville wastewater treatment plant garnered the state's top honor by receiving the Operational Excellence Award. "It takes a group effort to properly treat the wastewater that Nicholasville generates and biologically treat it and put it back into the environment," Wastewater Superintendent Van Bugg said. Bugg said the criteria for winning the award is strict. A plant cannot have more than one violation of its permit that allows it to put water out to the Town Fork Creek.

If you've ever flushed a toilet and rinsed anything down a sink, odds are that you haven't given a second thought about where it all ends up. But for Jessamine Creek wastewater supervisor Van Bugg and the employees at the wastewater plant on Shun Pike, it's something that they think about all the time. "Every toilet that is flushed, everything that goes down a sanitary sewer drain ends up at the wastewater plant," Bugg said. Unlike their counterparts at the water plant, Bugg and company are into bacteria.

There's nothing more annoying than when a big rain falls and the water backs up into your yard because of a clogged drain or pipes. It's Superintendent of Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Danny Johnson's job to make sure that never happens. "What we do day-to-day is we maintain the water transmission lines and wastewater lines," he said. "It's our responsibility from the time it leaves the water plant until it gets to the sewer plant. " That entails checking for and repairing leaks and cleaning the lines.

When Winchester Municipal Utilities completes its new water and wastewater treatment plants in the Lower Howards Creek watershed, Vince Isaacs will likely have a panoramic view of the facilities. Based on initial plans, the plants will be closer to his property than any other. That has Isaacs worried about dust from construction, damage from blasting, security and lights. But mostly he is worried about his property value. "My primary concern is the fact that it is such close proximity to my property and the property value being decreased significantly so that I can't even recoup what I have invested, much less any kind of profit," he said.