Letter from the Operator - by: Brian Palkovich

Greetings all,

I hope that 2019 is being kind to you and yours.

In 2015 “Eastgate Water and Sewer Association” (EGWS) started working on a large, multi-phase waste water treatment project that has recently been completed. The waste water treatment system that was in place was 40 plus years old and no longer performing properly. I’m sure anyone living close, and sometimes far from the lagoon were subject to the increasingly foul smells. This was due in part to the inability of the treatment cell to properly break down and treat the effluent entering the cell. There was also a large amount of sludge in the treatment cell and the blower system was in need of a great deal of repairs and or replacements. Weeds and vegetation along the edges of the cell further hindered proper treatment. The life expectancy of that system was 30 to 35 years and needed to be replaced.

With the new construction of the smaller in circumference but deeper treatment cell being the chosen option it was necessary to install a lift station. The lift station pumps the effluent to the treatment cell for treatment. Once in the treatment cell the blower/mixing pumps induce oxygen to aid in treatment and continually mix the effluent. The new blower pumps are more efficient to run and do a much better job of treatment in the cell.

The treatment cell gravity flows to the storage cell. The storage cell was determined to be leaking due to punctures and tears in the liner. That cell was also beyond its life expectancy and in need of replacement. EGWS dewaters the storage cell to the hay field to the north of the treatment facility. The dewatering pump being used was not up to specs and failed on numerous occasions. The pivot in the field was old and needed just over $45,000.00 in repairs. It was determined that putting that kind of money into something that old would not be wise. Instead EGWS purchased a new state of the art pivot and sold the old pivot.

The final part of the project recently completed was the waste water surge basin. This additional basin to the north of the treatment cell is in place to allow for emergency effluent flow in the event of loss of our lift station operation. This basin was recently tested and certified for operation.

During the next few weeks we will be uploading photos of the construction project on our newly updated web site at www.eastgatevillage.org.