On Monday, a west end resident reported that the city’s sewage treatment plant has been emitting an odor lately. He asked if the plant might be overloaded. I asked staff what’s going on. Since the fellow who contacted me probably isn’t the only one who’s been wondering about the odor, I’m sharing the reply I received:
The odor from the wastewater plant is related to some biological issues with the recent start up of the digesters in the new solids handling system. The plant is nowhere near overloaded — it is apparently working in high gear, hence the odor. The operations staff have been receiving assistance from our engineer, Lamar Dunn, to resolve the situation and get the system working as designed. The recent wide temperature swings from warm days to cool nights are also making the problem more noticeable by trapping the odor and not letting it disperse into the atmosphere. We are hoping things will settle down soon.
From this description, it sounds to me like there are some new “bugs” (of the microbial variety) that need to become accustomed to the diet of sewage they receive at Oak Ridge’s treatment plant. Here’s hoping things settle down quickly!
