|
ulare's largest capital project is nearing completion and is one month ahead of schedule.
The
city's $80 million industrial water treatment plant is 93 percent
complete and, if things progress as they're supposed to, could be in
use by November. The plant will expand industrial water treatment
capacity to 12 million gallons a day, which could attract new
food-processing plants and create job opportunities.
The project also will help Tulare meet the state's new water discharge standards.
But
with the "startup" portion of the project still to go, Tulare Public
Works Director Lew Nelson said he's not celebrating the project's
ribbon-cutting just yet.
"The trickiest part is ahead of us," he said. "Getting the biological process to work ... is going to be very interesting."
Six
huge, cement-walled tanks will work as bathtubs and play a key role in
the water treatment process for industrial waste mostly leftovers from
processed milk. Industrial waste is 10 times more potent than
residential sewage.
Before the plant can be used, bacteria to help with the treatment process must be grown, Nelson said.
"The
huge tanks must be seeded with bacteria and set up with enough food to
keep them alive until we have the sewage to run them,"'he said.
Construction administrator Kevin Irahola said the new plant will allow future industrial expansion.
The tanks will replace the current setup open air ponds and help reduce the smell.
The
industrial plant also will play an important role in future expansion
of the residential plant, which is next door in southwest Tulare.
Designed to handle 6 million gallons a day, the residential plant only
processes 4.5 million gallons that meet state standards.
Nelson
said residential-plant design plans, already 30 percent complete and
under review by state authorities, call for first expanding to a 6
million-gallon-per-day level and then up to 8 million per day.
Depending on cost, officials will determine which project is
pursued.'The construction project will be open for bidding in May.
If
the industrial plant is used to handle some residential sewage, the
residential-plant expansion project could be reduced in time and cost,
Nelson said. That's a move city officials are considering.
Kicked off in November 2007, the project has been injury free, with workers logging 150,000 man-hours without an injury.
To fund the project, city officials in 2006 approved sewer-rate increases of '10.5 percent for each of the next three years.
Are you looking for a new career within renewables? Are you a recruiter looking for industry professionals? Please visit our brand new www.RenewableEnergyJobs.Net to register yourself or your job vacancies today and net your perfect green energy career!
|
