Saline Asks for Patience Amid Wastewater Rehab Stink

In a recent advisory released on February 28, 2024, the City of Saline notified residents near the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) to expect increased odors in the coming weeks due to necessary repairs on the rotating biological contactors.

These repairs are a temporary measure as the city transitions to a more modern treatment process, which is a part of the plant's extensive rehabilitation project to enhance long-term operations and functionality. The city expressed its apologies for any inconvenience and sought the community's patience during this period.

As part of ongoing efforts to update and improve the WWTP, extensive work has been underway, including excavating the site's previous equalization basin to make way for new aeration channels. This work necessitates additional soil sampling, potentially causing minor delays. Furthermore, installing a new 24-inch sanitary sewer line is in progress, leading to intermittent closures of the south branch trail through People's Park. The demolition of an old storage building to accommodate a new headwork building is also complete, with further plans to continue the sewer line installation, remove sections of a 12-inch storm sewer, and demolish unused infrastructure.

The comprehensive scope of the rehabilitation project includes leveraging as much of the existing WWTP infrastructure as possible while introducing significant upgrades. These improvements encompass the construction of a new headworks building with advanced influent screening and pumps, a new equalization basin, expanded primary and secondary clarifiers, an activated sludge treatment process with a state-of-the-art aeration tank, and improvements to the digester and solids handling systems. The project aims to utilize the existing anaerobic digestion system to produce stabilized biosolids suitable for various disposal methods, including landfill or land application.

Key components of the upgrade also feature modifications to the influent sewer, the construction of a new influent pump station, upgrades to the clarifiers, a new Blower/RAS/Solids Handling building with upgraded equipment, electrical and SCADA system upgrades, and the demolition and construction of new facilities to support the plant's operations.

The project was awarded to Kokosing Construction Inc. on July 10, 2023, and broke ground in fall 2023.