Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Waste Treatment Plant Started

The election season is nearly over for municipalities. My blog entries are intentionally sparse during this period. Things are pretty quiet here compared to some places I have been. My general comment about elections is that "you must vote to have any chance to complain."

We are under way on the construction of the new wastewater treatment plant east of town. We hope that we will be treating water this time next year. When I came to work last summer, Delores said that she was frustrated with how long it is taking to get started. That was a clue to "make something happen." We had to "urge" the engineers to move ahead and "urge" the Federal agency providing the funding to clear the path so we could start bidding. At one point, we needed Congressman Jerry Moran's office for help. The help was appreciated and we are working.

The treatment process will be different than our current facility. We are going to a "lagoon system" from a "mechanical" plant. The biggest difference in the two systems is the lower electrical use that will be in the lagoon process. Our current plant requires the use of blowers to put large amounts of air in the waste treatment tanks. That air keeps the bugs healthy as they do the things they do. The "bugs are a number of single cell organisms that feed on the dissolved waste.

I wondered how I would use my high school biology course – now I know.