From Allen Dinkel, City Manager
After taking a week off to allow me to share my thoughts and experiences on tornados and natural disasters, I am moving back to the discussion on the various City utilities. Even though we may have more comments regarding the water utility at some time in the future, this week we are going to move wastewater. Yes, maybe not the most “glamorous “subject, but yet one that is of major importance to any community.
As I mentioned in the with water, the wastewater infrastructure is below ground and often “Out of Site and Out of Mind”. That is until, there are issues. When the toilet doesn’t flush or when there is a backup in your house, we all naturally are concerned. Just as with the water distribution lines, we have sewer collection lines that are newer and made of PVC Plastic, however there are older sewer mains made of clay of other materials. There is nothing wrong with these older pipes, but over the years they may crack and are not like they were when they first were installed. For the most part, any sewer main that was install since the mid-70’s are PVC.
The older day lines are located for the most part in the older areas of the City. In this area there are more and older trees. Over the years, these roots have entered into the sewer lines at joints or where there is a crack. Not these are not big thick roots, but normally groupings of tiny root “hairs. Naturally they cause the sewer lines to have less flow. When roots are found in a sewer lines they can be removed with a “circular saw” that is a “Root Cutter” In recent years, the City has had
chemical root control done in areas where “roots” are a problem. In newer areas of the City the PVC pipe is more resistant to roots, plus not as many trees have been planted near the sewer lines.
As I mentioned above, we can’t see sewer lines as they are in the ground. Over the past five or so years we have had a company hired to clean all of the sewer lines in the City and at the same time they used a camera to take a video footage of the inside of the lines. This has allowed better location of the sewer mains, but also helps to identify if there are any issues with the line. This then allows the Public Works Department to know which areas need maintenance on a routine basis.
You have heard it said the “Water can go uphill, but sewage goes downhill’. Since water is “pumped and there is a pressure of a full line it can go up and down the hills in Junction City. Sewer on the other hand, has to go downhill. This means the sewer main lines are buried much lower than water mains. If you have a basement underneath your house, the sewer line must be lower than any drain in your basement. As the sewer lines always has to continue to slope downward. In some areas of the City, we have lift stations that pump or “lift the sewage to a point where it can gravity flow once again. So, in many cases to replace older sewer lines, it is more difficult than water lines due to the depth and the need to maintain a “downward” flow.
Junction City is different than any City in the State with a population of at less than 75,000 people that has two sewer plants. One is located on Grant Avenue and the second is located in the far southwest portion of the City to the south of Interstate 70. As I understand this plant was put in place when a sausage manufacturing plant was located here. Even though there is other sewage that flows to the southwest plant the “lion’s’ share is from the plant. Having two plants also means twice the overhead. That means more costs. That is not necessarily a bad thing as this industry creates many jobs and provides many benefits to the City. Simply to bring industry and jobs to this community, there has to be investment in the infrastructure. Both plants treat the sewage and then water is released to the rivers. The East Plant water enters the
Republican River, and the Southwest Plant water is pumped into the Smokey Hill River. Of course, the two rivers merge on the east side of the City to together to form the Kansas River. This water of course has to meet environmental standards.
In recent years, just like with the Water Plant, the City has embarked on making needed improvements that in some cases had been “put off” in the past or need to be done so that Federal and State requirements are met. Presently the City is under a mandate or a “Consent Order” from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KHDE) to make improvements to allow requirements to be met. Phase I of the sewer plant improvements was recently completed and now we are moving on to Phase II. The City Commission will be reviewing the bids at their next meeting with the apparent low bid to be over $56 Million. On top of that there were engineering costs in design and then in construction engineering and inspection that will near the $9 Million dollar mark. Simply, not cheap, but must be done. Unfortunately, that has caused the need to look at the sewage rates and adjust upward accordingly. Simply, “It Is What It Is”.
Also, we need to look at the collection system and identify areas where improvements are needed. Again, this is a combination of aging infrastructure and maybe some deferred maintenance in the past.
Next week we will talk more about the financial side of the Wastewater Utility and then we will crawl out from the sewer and move to other utilities.