Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse
Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse is your go-to podcast for staying connected with the heart of Richmond, Indiana. Dive into the latest community updates, local events, city initiatives, and stories that matter most to our vibrant community. Whether you're a lifelong resident or new to the area, this podcast keeps you in tune with the pulse of Richmond!
Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse
Episode 1 - Inside Richmond: The City's Pulse | 'Richmond’s Bold Moves for Waste Water Management'
Discover how Richmond is taking bold steps to secure its future against environmental threats. Join us in a compelling conversation with show host Lindsay Darnell joined by guests Pat Smoker, Director of Sanitation, and Elijah Welch, District Engineer, who reveal the proactive measures being undertaken at the Richmond wastewater treatment plant. This episode promises to unravel the intricacies of the levee project's urgent need for upgrades due to vulnerabilities like animal burrows and overgrown vegetation. Learn about the strategic application for an OCRA grant to enhance the levee’s resilience with essential features such as raising its height and installing an automatic floodgate, crucial for safeguarding the plant and the community from the Whitewater River's floodwaters.
Our discussion goes beyond infrastructure, touching on the broader implications of these upgrades for community safety and environmental stewardship. We'll explain how these improvements not only protect expensive equipment but ensure uninterrupted wastewater treatment to prevent potential contamination of local waterways. Explore the importance of adapting to stricter regulations and advancing technology through efforts like the CSO long-term control plan. We also highlight how community engagement and awareness are pivotal in reinforcing the environmental benefits of these initiatives. This episode underscores the profound impact this project will have on Richmond’s growth, public health, and ecological well-being.
Welcome everyone. This is Inside Richmond, the city's pulse. We are keeping you updated and informed. This is our first podcast episode and today we are here with Pat Smoker, Director of Sanitation, and Elijah Welch, District Engineer. Guys, thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having us. Yeah, thanks.
Speaker 1:So we have a message. You guys have a message that you're wanting to get out to the community, and that is about the levy correct.
Speaker 3:Correct.
Speaker 1:Okay, do you want to tell us a little bit about your message and what's going on?
Speaker 3:Yeah for sure. The district is applying for an OCRA grant to help towards a levy project. This levy is around the treatment plant, the wastewater treatment plant. It protects it from floodwaters from the Whitewater River. This levy was built in the 80s but it was never certified and it wasn't completed. So the levy needs upgrades to certify it as well as just some general maintenance of the older portion of that levy.
Speaker 1:OK, so what prompted the decision to rehabilitate and complete the levy at this time?
Speaker 2:Yeah, we are working on several upgrades. We've done several recently and we'll have more coming up. And so, just looking at um, you know different risks that we have at the plant and and, um, you know just our asset management program as a whole. Uh, for our system, uh, it was something that was identified that um, uh was, uh was needing upgraded, uh to be able to protect the asset that we have at the treatment plant. You know it's very large and expensive and a lot of technology and equipment, and so to protect that and being able to continue to do what we would need to do to treat the wastewater during a big flood event was important, and so that's kind of what spurred this project.
Speaker 1:Okay, so how old is the existing levee and what condition is it currently in?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the wastewater treatment plant was expanded in a pretty major way in the early 80s and this levee was installed at that time.
Speaker 2:It wasn't completed, it left the north end low. It wasn't completed, it left the north end low and really that reduced the protection that we have with it. So the levee has been in place since then. It's an average condition. I mean, there are some burrows animal burrows that we found, and some vegetation that needs to be cleared from it to better stabilize the levee that's there and then in that area that's low. That's where we're looking at making some improvements raising the levee up and putting an automatic floodgate, something that would, if the floodwaters were to approach it, they would go down into a reservoir and that gate would automatically raise up and protect the plant. But the plant's situated in a way in relation to the levee that if we just build it up, you know, just with soil, we wouldn't be able to drive through it how we do now without other, more major, more expensive improvements how we do now, without other more major, more expensive improvements.
Speaker 1:Okay, so can you elaborate on the risk posed to the community if the wastewater treatment plant were to be compromised during a flood?
Speaker 2:Sure. So if the wastewater treatment plant got inundated with floodwaters, we have several buildings which house big pumps and equipment that would be flooded as part of that, so we also have electrical feeds and components that would be impacted, and so with that equipment, essentially down all the wastewater that comes to the treatment plant to be treated every day. So on average 8 million gallons or so a day of wastewater would be directly discharged into the river, and so that would affect river quality, not only fish and things like that, but we're also upstream of Brookville Reservoir, so any kind of recreation that would happen would be impacted as well.
Speaker 2:Water is an important piece of just community health, and so not being able to treat the wastewater and discharging it and all the bacteria and things that go with it directly into the river, would have environmental impacts but really financial impacts to the city as well, because all that equipment that got ruined as part of a flood would have to be replaced, and that's not cheap and it would just be expensive and timely to try to get all that back up and going.
Speaker 1:Okay, so has there been any historical instances? Excuse me, sorry. Are there any historical instances where the wastewater treatment plant has been impacted by flooding in the past?
Speaker 3:To date, since the 80s, there has been no flood that breached the levee as it stands. It's been very high on the levee before, but currently hasn't, so this is really like a preemptive thought process, Again shoring up risk. The cost of the entire levee project pales in comparison to what it would take to replace the equipment Elijah spoke of and that technology, not counting environmental impacts and just the amount of cleanup that may have to occur in the river or downstream of that river. So even though there hasn't been waters breached to the plant so far, it's again plant.
Speaker 1:So far it's again. This is trying to prevent that from occurring, right, okay, so can you tell us how does the wastewater treatment plant contribute to environmental and public safety or public health? I know, you know the risk if it was to get into our rivers. You know contamination. That would be sewage, correct correct um.
Speaker 3:As elijah brought up, we treat roughly eight million gallons per day dry weather um of sewage um and we can go for a long talk on how that really impacts health. I mean you would have heavy fish kills um if you sent direct raw sewage to the river every day. So so if we lost, if we were to get flooded and lose major section of the plant, it could take months to repair that. And putting that out day in day out would have those environmental impacts. Fish kills, just long-term detriment to the aquatic life. But many communities use it for recreation. But a lot of communities like Richmond with the Middles Fork Reservoir, we're using it for our drinking water. So the cost of treatment of that to make sure people are getting good drinking water would be significant. If it was a really a flood event, water would be outside of the riverbanks so you'd be on ground. Depending on wells and what type of wells are put in, this could impact drinking water in that aspect as well so several areas that it would impact.
Speaker 1:So it is important and that is one thing that we want to get out there that this is important to get going to prevent that from happening here.
Speaker 3:Correct. It's preemptive, but it is a real potential risk that could be out there. In the cost of the equipment Again, it would far exceed what it takes to work on the levee. And that doesn't even factor in just human health and environmental health.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, great. So what measures are in place to mitigate environmental impact during the levee construction?
Speaker 3:Elijah will know better about this than I do, but there are environmental permits and things that occur before we can enter into projects like this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's several permits that we have to go through. That process of getting Something like this would have. You know, we're working with soil and so there's erosion control and sediment control factors, you know, just making sure that as we do that construction we're not allowing soil to leave the site and get in the river. Other than that, it's, from the construction side, not a lot of other impacts that we'd be concerned with in building it.
Speaker 1:Are there any backup systems or contingency plans to manage wastewater treatment if the plant was to be flooded before the levy is completed?
Speaker 3:I mean they're loose plans. None of them are great plans. None of them would save the treatment plant. A big component of this is blower technology, which supplies air to our plant. It's an aerobic treatment system, so the heart of the plant is this air going to this bacteria that oxidizes the waste. If we were to lose those there really isn't a good contingency Part of those would be flooded as tanks To put in.
Speaker 3:We have used portable blowers before and had backups.
Speaker 3:If we thought we were going to like temporarily have blowers out of service for some reason, we can bring in portables, but the problem is they would all be in the flood simultaneously. There's not a way to realistically, outside of the flood, be able to put in blowers and serve that. And if those blowers were down 24 to 36 hours, the bacteria that's doing the heart of the work in the treatment plant would all die. And even if the floodwaters receded and we could get some portable blowers with like a backup generator running, it would take weeks for those bacteria to kind of bloom back up into a significant enough amount to still be able to treat waste. So even under a best case scenario of the floodwaters receded but the plant has died. It would still take weeks, even with portable equipment. Waters are receded but the plant has died. It would still take weeks, even with portable equipment assuming everything else was kind of able to be repaired pumps that Elijah talked about and different other service equipment even moderate treatment would take weeks to to get back up.
Speaker 1:So how long is this project going to take to be completed?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think basically one construction season, so starting in the spring and finishing in the fall you know that's the best time to do work with soil and so that work would be done during that time. And the gate and the reservoir and concrete, that all goes with that could all be done in that time frame. That all goes with that Could all be done in that time frame.
Speaker 1:Okay, so are there any expected disruptions to local services or infrastructure during construction and, if so, how will they be managed?
Speaker 2:Not really. I mean, we would definitely have some different traffic patterns for our own vehicles there at the treatment plant, but the public isn't going through this area Uh, so there's really not any disruption, uh, other than just you know how we get around the plant and do things Um the public's uh wouldn't, wouldn't really see that, uh, that side of things.
Speaker 1:Okay. Is there going to be any ongoing maintenance required to the levy once it's completed?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean we'll have to. Elijah mentioned earlier some vegetation and burrowing, animals and things like that occur, so we would have to maintain those portions. But that gate that he talked about, I'm sure it will come with some routine maintenance and or periodic testing of that gate, you know you wouldn't want a gate setting for 20 years and never been moved. So we will probably have to exercise that at least.
Speaker 1:Okay, so are there any other plans to expand or upgrade other parts of the sanitation district?
Speaker 3:This is. I mean we're always having to move and change with technology. The long-term control plan that the city's been working on for 15, 20 years somewhere in that ballpark, which is separation of sewers, that's ongoing. There's always new limits and new regulations that come out that require us to do that and equipment fails and there's usually better technology that comes out by the time we have to replace something. So we're always working on projects. But the next really large project is related to our CSO long-term control plan. It's building in a high-rate treatment facility that will be very close to this levee. I mean it's upgrading a building we already have there, but it will be work inside that building. So again, this is important, before we do a major upgrade to a building that's setting just inside the levee, that we have this levevy secured.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I know you guys have answered this question. I've obviously gotten that, but I want it to be asked again in a different way, just so the community can hear it in that aspect and then answer it again, just to show them. So how will the levy rehabilitate? Sorry, how will the levee rehabilitation directly benefit the residents of our community?
Speaker 3:I mean, I think a big piece is what we're talking about. Is this preemptive? Um, if this protects us and we never flood the plant, um, you would basically see no different than what you see right now. It's the case that if it were inundated with floodwaters and we were to lose that plant, the cost back to the community to be able to do those repairs and the risk to public health that would occur while discharging sewage directly to the river we're trying to make that never happen. So if we make it never happen, you wouldn't really even notice that we did anything. Um, it's just protection in case it happened.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's kind of like a homeowner's policy, uh, on your house, so you buy insurance to protect it in case, um, something happens, and uh, I mean this is this is similar in that, uh, in that, but in this case it's actually going to prevent that bad thing from happening, not just pay for the damages that are caused after the fact, and so it's really even better than insurance in that way.
Speaker 1:Okay, so will this project enhance the long-term reliability of wastewater services for the community?
Speaker 3:In the sense that if there were floods which statistically there will be floods or high water events, under those conditions where the treatment plant is protected, yeah, the public will see that benefit.
Speaker 1:Great. So I'm only asking these questions again because I really want the community to understand what this is going to do for our community, with it being rehabilitated and upgraded. You know it is going to prevent anything from happening if there was that flood oh, absolutely.
Speaker 3:I mean the two really important equipment. Pieces of equipment are buildings that are right next to the levee. Combined, if they were completely lost, is probably $70 million, maybe more than that. That's not even counting the public health impact and cleaning up. What we'd have to do just to replace the exact equipment might be $70 to $100 million and we're putting roughly a million dollars towards this levy, so it's a huge a huge protection, huge protection piece right.
Speaker 1:So how is the district getting the community to understand the importance of this project? Have you guys sent out letters with bills, or is this your first time notifying the community?
Speaker 3:this isn't the time. There's been a few pieces of information that went out about this project. Probably a year or so ago, when we had permits that went out, there was some information that went out. We've held one public hearing as well and there was notices sent out for that. There will be a second public hearing as well coming up for that. There was a resolution through the sanitary board about this application for this grant. There will be one going to city council on that, I think the December 2nd meeting there will be that and it'll come with also a public hearing just to apply for the grant plus this year. So there's been six, seven, eight different ways that this has kind of been out in various aspects.
Speaker 1:So you guys have been able to get that information out to the community. So what role does this project play in protecting our environmental and local waterways from potential contamination? I know you guys have answered it, but it's really important that we do get this information out yeah, so eight million gallons a day on average of sewage is treated at that treatment plant.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna say contaminants and I'm gonna list a few things some of the major players, and there's more than this but BOD, which is biological oxygen, demand the total suspended solids. Ammonia, which is highly toxic to fish, and phosphorus, which is a in its raw form, is promotes algae and other things that will deplete oxygen and hurt aquatic life. We have, on average, a 99 and I'm I'm looking at all four of these things combined together but roughly a 98 or 99 percent removal through the wastewater treatment. Um, so if we aren't doing that, I mean the the fold of contamination going out is just is very significant.
Speaker 3:You would immediately see responses to the river under those conditions. And I know we're a CSO community, right, so we and we're doing separation. So there's been times in the past where there were overflows directly to the river and we've been working to clean those up and there's been significant, through our testing, reduction of contaminants in the river. But under those conditions you've got to understand that was under rains so there was a lot of dilution, if you will, from the rainwater itself. So you might get a rain now and get 100 million gallons coming into the treatment plant but still roughly eight of that is actual sewage and it's diluted with that. The rest of that is rainwater. So under those conditions there was some dilution, right. But if we were to lose the treatment plant and you were under dry weather conditions and you'd be putting basically a one-to-one contamination to river ratio and that would be much more impactful under those scenarios.
Speaker 1:So I know you mentioned phosphorus. So I just want to say that if anybody ever has had a pool and they've had phosphates in their water, they know exactly how hard it is to get rid of the algae out of that water. It is a long process to get the phosphates out. So any pool owners out there that you know know what phosphates is. You'll kind of understand that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, correct, phosphates definitely drive algae and algae sucks up oxygen from available river sources and when you deplete oxygen that's a direct impact to the aquatic life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how does safeguarding the wastewater treatment plant help ensure sustainable growth and development for our community?
Speaker 3:I mean, that's a little harder to to answer. I think right. But as long as the sanitary district can provide our services, our community is much more marketable to anything residents, commercial, industrial aspects. If we have a failing wastewater treatment plan, or if this had occurred right, we would definitely look less lucrative. If we have to raise rates to pay for lost equipment or to clean ups, you know, all these things would make us less attractive.
Speaker 2:We're working, I mean routinely, with new companies coming or looking at at Richmond and so, yeah, this is it's. Wastewater is always, and utilities as a as a whole is always an important piece of what they're looking for, and so a reliable utility with stable rates and predictable treatment is important.
Speaker 1:And then when is this project going to start? You said in the spring.
Speaker 2:Yes, so the grant application goes in here later in December. We should know about it in late winter, and so the idea would be that we would bid late winter and start in the spring.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right. Well, is there any other important information that you want the community to know about this project?
Speaker 2:I don't think so. I think we did a good job of covering all the all the basis and impacts and the importance of it Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, now I know you guys answered a lot of my questions that I had, but still important, I wanted to ask them just so the community can understand when I asked them in a different way.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, we appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so thank you guys for joining me today. I am excited to get this information out. It's going to benefit all of us here in the community and I'm ready for it to get started.
Speaker 3:Yeah us too. Yeah, we've spent about two years on this. Yeah, Great Thank you.
Speaker 1:Us too, yeah we've spent about two years on this Great Thank you, thank you. So this is Inside Richmond, the City's Pulse, keeping you updated and informed. Join us next month for our next episode.