By JONATHAN SNYDER
Wells County Regional Sewer District Superintendent Lewis Brown discussed infiltration of rainwater throughout their sewer lines with the district board Tuesday.
Brown gave a report showing that increased rainfall has led to significantly higher sewage flow than normal. Throughout September, the average flow with no rainfall was approximately 43,000 gallons of sewage flow. Once steady rainfall hit from the Sept. 22-29, the average shot up to about 61,000 gallons.
The exact infiltration area is still unknown. Brown, and RSD member and Bluffton Utility Director Jon Oman are still discussing a potential smoke test on RSD lines to find the problematic areas. Oman stated that a discussion of time and monetary expectations from the RSD and the city need to be set out before any decisions are made, but noted that there will be a better understanding by the next meeting. Ryan LeFeld of Choice One Engineering is looking for companies that can do smoke tests, with the expectation that the tests will take about two weeks to complete.
Additionally, RSD attorney Mark Burry notified the RSD that it may need to raise its rates soon. Burry stated that the current rates have not changed since day one, and that Adams County is expected to raise its rates soon. Thanks to increases on treatment costs, future pump replacement fees and other maintenance fees down the road may force the RSD’s hand.
Additionally, long lead times for equipment forces the RSD to budget long term for equipment replacement, according to Burry. No figures were stated at the meeting.
“We report our balance on the books and everybody says, ‘You’re flushed with cash, why are you worrying about the budget?’” RSD member Andy Stoller said. “We know that we have massive expenses coming, it’s as sure as we’re sitting here that we have massive outgoings and capital that we need to have to maintain an operational district that has to operate.”
Reported smell issues in Murray were also discussed by the RSD. Brown stated that he and Oman will be working to decipher the problems there, with Oman stating that there are some methods, at a shared cost for both city and the RSD, to address the smell if it continues. Brown theorized that there may be some smell problems coming from Kingsland due to the longer times that sewage lays in those lines. Brown hopes that with more connections, the smell will dissipate a little bit.
Furthermore, Brown announced that the RSD truck has new tires installed, but information on the RSD’s request for SRF to fund a crane on the truck has not been given to the RSD. Insuring main lift stations and generator sets for the RSD were also discussed as well as a drop box for the RSD.
Brown reported that nine houses are yet to connect in Craigville, with four of them vacant. Kingsland has 10 houses yet to connect with three scheduled. Brown also stated that 2026 is the earliest for a potential Tocsin project, after SRF denied the RSD’s funding requests.
jonathan@news-banner.com
