Work continues on Wastewater Project
Photo by Shari Harris
Construction is well underway in the large hole dug for the new headworks.
By Shari Harris, Publisher
The City of Licking’s Superintendent of Utilities Donnie Trout and Treatment Plant Manager Derek Hammond say a good start has been made on the Waste Water Treatment Plant Improvements Project. Engineering firm Archer-Elgin and Mid-State Pipeline have been hard at work on the project, which is anticipated to be completed by August of 2027.
The project will build a laboratory/office/garage building to replace the current small laboratory/office space at the plant. A new headworks is being constructed, and a metal building will cover it. Other components of the project include a new generator, a new splitter, upgrades to both clarifiers and two new filters.
Trout and Hammond explained that constructing an entirely new plant could have been done more quickly (at an increased cost) but because parts of the current plant will continue to be used, the construction must take place without interfering with the workings of the plant. New components must be constructed one at a time and piped or wired into the current system before progressing to the next component. Likewise, the day-to-day work at the treatment plant must continue without interfering with construction.
Currently concrete has been poured for the new laboratory/office/garage building, some of the new piping at the plant has been laid, extensive excavation and underground work has been done, and construction is well underway on the new headworks. A large hole was dug for the headworks, and Mid-State Pipeline has been building from the bottom up, gradually filling in the hole. Eventually they will place a metal building to cover the headworks. After a new component is finished, it can be hooked into the current system to operate. The splitter work will begin after that.
Photo by Shari Harris
The concrete base of the new laboratory/office/garage has been poured and construction of the building is anticipated soon.
The new generator is anticipated to arrive any time. It must be able to function with both the current system and the new components as each one comes on line. Hammond anticipates construction of the laboratory/office/garage building will also start soon.
Another factor in the time required to complete the construction is the specialized equipment required for the treatment plant. Filters, for example, are created to fit the equipment, flow rates and other criteria of the Licking treatment plant and are not generic in nature.
The construction component (Phase 1) of the project is being paid for with an ARPA grant, and Phase 2 will be funded by the State Revolving Fund (SRF), which means loans that the City will have to repay, the procurement of which was approved by voters in the April 2019 election. Phase 2 will include the filters and UV lights for the plant.
The improvements at the wastewater treatment plant were necessary to upgrade the aging plant, where equipment repairs and replacements were becoming more common. It should allow the plant to operate according to Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulations while keeping up with the sewer demands of the City of Licking for many years to come.
