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Treatment plant receives $5 million in upgrades
(by Sue Reid - July 09, 2012)
Treatment plant receives $5 million in upgrades
By SUE REID
Upgrades to anaerobic digesters and the electrical system at Solon's sewage treatment plant, costing nearly $5 million, are nearing completion. The project began in October 2010.
Plant Director Paul Solanics said the project involved the reconditioning of two anaerobic digesters and all of the main electrical panels throughout the plant. A backup generator also was installed as part of the project.
"The existing digesters were not performing efficiently," Mr. Solanics said of the need for the project. "Part of that was due to an inefficient mixing system," he said. "It was not really mixing the digesters properly, and we were not getting the proper methane gas production out of them."
Digesters are tanks used in the processing of sludge. The digesters that were reconditioned dated back to 1970. The plant had been operating on just one digester.
"This upgrade will also provide a gas scrubber, which cleans the gas so we can run it effectively in our boiler systems," Mr. Solanics said.
The electrical upgrades will result in a complete refurbishing of the high-voltage system that powers the entire plant. All of the wiring, which is 30 years old, was replaced as part of the project.
Money for the project came from the plant's capital funds. The city also secured funding through a water-pollution-control loan from the federal government, sponsored through the Ohio Water Division Authority. The 20-year loan has a 3.2 percent interest rate.
The project was completed by Kenmore Construction, of Akron, which served as the prime contractor. Three separate contracts were for work performed by Environmental Control System, ESI and Fowler Electric.
This is the second recent investment in the treatment plant. A trickling filter project completed in 2007, which changed the treatment process, cost $4.3 million.
"It seems like, whenever we do a large capital improvement project at the plant, it is not less than a million dollars, due to the cost of the equipment and the nature of waste-water treatment," Mr. Solanics said. "A lot of the things that you do are expensive, because the equipment involved in it is expensive," he said.
"This particular capital improvement is upgrading the whole digestion process," he said.
There was an alternate bid for the backup generator, which added about $500,000 to the overall cost. The generator was added to assist in running the plant during power outages, Mr. Solanics said. "That way we can ensure a complete treatment process during inclement weather."
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