Century Spending About $47K In Fixes To Keep Sewer Plant Running

September 24, 2019

The Century Town Council Monday night approved tens of thousands of dollars of expenditures to keep the town’s  sewage treatment plant up and running.

The town approved up to $36,000 for emergency repairs to a clarifier — a device that removes solids from sewage passing through the plant. Interim City Manager Buz Eddy said the clarifier was last rebuilt some 19 or 20 years ago. He described it as a geared device that has simply worn out and dropped the plant’s capacity by one-third.

There are three clarifiers at the wastewater plant, with the other two last rebuilt in in 2007 and 2017.  The town will fund the repair using capital outlay money in the upcoming fiscal year that begins October 1.

Monday night, the town also approved the removal of biosolids and sludge and evaluation of filters as first reported by NorthEscambia.com Monday morning. Those items are reprinted below.

Sewage Sludge/Biosolids Removal

According to town documents, the level of biosolids and sewage sludge are too high, and the town’s current disposal method using drying bed is inadequate to remedy the problem.

The Century treatment facility has three drying beds, but one is out of service and in need of significant repairs estimated at $25,000. Somewhere around 2006, the town purchased a belt press – which essentially squeezes the liquid out of the sludge — but it has been out of service for several years and repair parts are no longer available.

The town has a tanker truck that could be used to haul the sludge away, but it is not in operating order. It’s a 1987 Peterbilt that pulls a 1970’s era tanker trailer that holds about 5,000 gallons. It is estimated it would cost $7,000 for truck repairs and an inspection on the structural integrity of the tank.

The town contacted three companies for quotes to remove the sludge:

  • Johnson Septic declined to quote.
  • Boyett’s in Pensacola quoted $1,500 per 4,000 gallon tanker load, including a $405 ECUA disposal fee, which equates to 37.5 cents per gallon.
  • Green South Solutions in Florala, AL, quoted a turnkey solution at $950 per $6,500 gallon tanker load, or 14.6 center per gallon. The price includes all equipment, personal, disposal permits and insurance to remove the excess biosolids.

The town council awarded the contract to Green South Solutions to remove 10 loads of biosolids/sludge for $9,500 total.

Wastewater Filters

The town council awarded  a $1,800 contract to Aqua-Aerobic Solutions to evaluate the effluent filters at the wastewater treatment plant. The filters, according to town documents, have been out of service for several years due to the controls being submerged.

The filters, manufactured by Aqua-Aerobic Solutions, were installed in 2002 and 2007.

Comments

6 Responses to “Century Spending About $47K In Fixes To Keep Sewer Plant Running”

  1. chris on September 24th, 2019 11:45 am

    ” the town also approved the removal of biosolids and sludge ” Oh! Did they announce a recall election? LOL.

  2. Wayne on September 24th, 2019 10:09 am

    Century has become like the sewer plant..it also runs downhill

  3. retired on September 24th, 2019 9:31 am

    @tg

    from the up coming tax year (increase)

    contractor needs to get money upfront

  4. tg on September 24th, 2019 8:46 am

    Wonder where that money will come from?

  5. josh on September 24th, 2019 6:23 am

    I can think of s few more biosolids needing removal from the town…… bahahhahhaha

  6. Century on September 24th, 2019 2:48 am

    Why aren’t they applying for grants Gaetz told them the state helps with that.

    Also the county didn’t help with RESTOE or Triumph. for sewer improvements Commission Barry

    Good thing we are upstream.

    https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/water-waste-disposal-loan-grant-program

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News