Sewer Plant News
Here's some new information on sewer plants. As you may know, at last week's (11/21) City Council meeting, the contract to design, build and operate the new sewer plant was presented to the council members and public.
It's in the neighborhood of $42,000,000. Plus operating and maintenance costs of close to $2,000,000 per year plus electrical costs which are much more than what we are using now. How can we afford this? This is happening all over the state and country. There's billions to be made.
Santa Paula is also dealing with this problem. They were on the verge of signing a contract when they decided to take a closer look at a technology called "Vertreat". They have provided us with the information and Bert Rapp is taking a look at it. Tomorrow night (11/28), the contract for the MBR plant is supposed to be voted on for approval. Bert may ask for a delay to do some further research.
There is a lot of documentation that I've been going over and I don't want to go into all the details. I will provide a link if you want to read for yourselves. Here are just a few bullet points of the advantages.
Deep Shaft Wastewater Treatment technology facts:
- Technology is over 20 years old
- The system is uncomplicated, easy to operate and maintain, and well suited to fully automated unattended operation
- The in-ground reactor ( vertical shaft 200-350 ft deep) is much less likely to sustain damage in an earthquake than aboveground reactors.
- Life span of shaft -100-125 years, no corrosion
- Solid waste handling is greatly reduced in volume and is less hazardous, making it easier to dispose of at a lesser cost (maybe even a profit)
- No serious disadvantages
- Energy efficient - even energy producing
- Produces Class A bio-solids which can go to Toland or other local site. Class B sludge must be transported to Arizona
- Class A bio-solids also produce higher energy in a gasification process- energy credits for gas produced
- Saves valuable farmland
- Electricity to run plant is 1/10th the cost of a membrane filter plant now being considered
- 100% odor free
- Footprint no more than 52 x 120 ft
- Takes spikes in water-flow easily
- Environmental "GREEN" grants available (see Thousand Oaks- received 110 million in green grants using solar power)
- Membrane filters in BMR plants get plugged up and they don't last 40 years. Must be replaced from time to time and they're not cheap.
So, keep your fingers crossed that this is a usable technology without a lot of flaws and that it would indeed be cheaper to build and operate. There are a lot of questions and unknowns at this point but it's worth a look.
posted by Gayle Washburn @ 9:03 PM
11 Comments
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11 Comments:
Excellent research Gayle!!
Thanks marc o
I didn't put the complete link in though. Here it is.
http://www.noram-eng.com/products/vertreat.html
I'll change it on the topic too.
Gayle, I've probably built a reputation on your blog as the obnoxious pro growth gremlin. However, although I praise the city council for approving such developments as HVP and NFSP, I seem to not be as grateful to the current council in their handling of the sewer plant issue. The state is the big bad boss and is threatening the city with big bad fines..... BUT I believe that as city LEADERS the city council must FIGHT for the people and find the BEST possible solution FINANCIALLY for the it's citizens. I'm sorry to say that the current council has FAILED in that respect.
marc o: I wouldn't say you've been obnoxious. Just stating your points. I'm glad that you are adding to the dialog. There's always two sides(or more) to look at.
This sewer issue so much money! Bert is also looking at another type called Micromedia. It looks promising also for soft water treatment.
http://natural-water-systems.com
Gayle when you say reactor, I think of Nuclear Reactor, when you say Reactor Shaft, I again Think Nuclear Reactor, when you say half life of 100-125 years again Nuclear, is this a nuclear reactor?
No, the reactor refers to the biological process that takes place to treat the sludge. The biological process consists of bacteria(good) that digests the bad bacteria...I think...LOL. I'm trying to process all this information myself.
We'll be discussing it at the City Council meeting tonight.
Goodmorning Gayle & Patti,
I watched some of the Council Meeting last night.
It is upsetting to see our Lamb Duck Mayor sign a Contract for $42,000,000.00 for this Sewer Plant, prior to the Vote of the People.
Also prior to the Workshop which would educate the Public of the Contract and Plans.
Again the Will of the People of Fillmore was “IGNORED”!
I heard Bert Rapp say we can get out of this Contract.
Was there any Stipulations signed to this Contract stating we can back out if the People vote against it?
I know that once a Contract is signed and there are Stipulations then you are protected.
When I was listening I did not hear any thing except that they Orally agreed.
When it comes to Contracts, Oral agreements are meaningless when a Contract says otherwise.
Please clarify this contract and my question of backing out of the Contract.
I see you had mentioned Rapp may ask for a delay.
As I have witnessed in the past, it seems he just pacified you for the time being.
Last night was another of several Examples by this City Council in which we need a drastic change of Council people.
In my eyes this is just another tactic in which the People of Fillmore are pacified, yet in all the City Council’s agenda is going full force.
Please explain the process of the so-called vote for the Sewer Plant.
Will the County Election Division Count the Votes?
I was told City Hall here in Fillmore will do it.
What about the accountability of counting the Votes if the City counts the Votes?
Gracy: Yes, I was disappointed that we couldn't wait a few more weeks to award the contract. I don't know for sure what happens if we don't execute. I guess it will depend on the vote.
The voting will just be done and counted locally. There was a meeting at El Dorado today. I didn't go but I heard that the folks out there are really worried that they can't afford to pay sewer plant bills.
And guess what...that $42 million is just the beginning. The contract(which must be somewhat open ended because we haven't the approvals yet) for recycling is another $40 million. Then there's the $35 plus million for the water softening plant. This is a fleecing of the cash cows...er..I mean ratepayers.
That's the biggest problem with this. It's too expensive. The costs are out of line. Yes, we know that water treatment is expensive but I looked at a database of all state projects and the only ones that are in that price range are for much larger plants.
I'm also concerned about the fact that we are paying 6.5% interest on bond financing when we could be paying 2.5% on State Revolving Loans instead. It's my understanding that the state will not approve a loan without a competitive bid. The DBO process that we are using is not competetive so maybe that's why we are paying the higher interest. We even had to get special legislation to use the DBO process. In spite of the theory that it will be more efficient, cost effective, etc. It has proven to be MORE expensive.
The Vertreat system that we had asked Bert to evaluate would be a lot less expensive to operate. The energy costs are half of what it takes for MBR. Vertreat can be operated by one person and can even be monitored remotely. The American Water contract that we signed calls for 6 employees!
In spite of their objections to why they didn't consider it, the Vertreat IS a municipal sewerage application(in Homer, Alaska), not just industrial. And, the vault technology is superior for seismic activity. It should at least have been reviewed or a fatal flaw identified in an initial screening. I see no evidence of that.
Gayle,
What can we do to keep our rates down? How low do you think you can make them? Should we vote against the rates? If we had know this when we bought a hous we would looked someplace else.
RECALL DRESSLER AND CONAWAY!!!!
How could you recall your new mayor? .
I'm dissipointed with Laurie already! Hey I'm watching the city
council meeting...did our new mayor
just belch? I'm not kidding
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