Gross profit: Elyria says new wastewater cleaning process will save money

The staff of the Elyria Water Reclamation Facility have a plan that might not appeal to the squeamish, but they believe it could save the city more than $100,000. City Council is set to vote on a contract that, if approved, would see the facility staff take a new approach to the cleaning of its anaerobic digesters, which are crucial to the city's wastewater treatment process. On Monday, Plant Superintendent Shayne Stewart told Elyria City Council's Finance Committee that two of the four anaerobic digesters at the facility needed to be cleaned. Anaerobic digesters store the solids removed from Elyria's wastewater and heat it in the presence of bacteria, reducing its size and killing pathogens to make it safe for transport and disposal. The process creates methane gas and nutrient-dense "digestate" and the city is engaged in a study to determine if it can use those byproducts to save the city money and make the process more sustainable. Digesters need to be cleaned every six to eight years, Stewart said, and Elyria has stretched two of its tanks — one that holds 1 million gallons and one that holds roughly 500,000 gallons — to about 9 years since their last cleaning. In the past, Elyria has contracted out the entire job of cleaning the digesters, but Stewart proposed a simple but novel idea Monday: The plant staff would do the most expensive part of the cleaning itself. Stewart said that the city went out for bids for the cleaning and received quotes of roughly $250,000 and $350,000 to do the job. Those prices were on par with what they were when the city last cleaned its tanks eight years ago, but Stewart said that he and his staff realized that a large portion of the cost the city was being charged was for the pressing down and removal of the bulk of the biosolids in the digester. The city contacted a different company, C&K Industrial Services, and asked if the reclamation plant staff could do that work itself ahead of time and save on the total cost. "I told them if we were able to pump a lot of that down ourselves and they just get the real nitty gritty at the bottom, would they be open to that?" Stewart said at the meeting on Monday. " And they are." C&K said it would charge the city just $111,000 for the work Stewart described, less than half of the lowest offer the city received for the whole job. "I felt that that was something we should at least try," Stewart said. "We have not attempted it before, but it is something that me and the team have brainstormed for the past, I'd say, two to three weeks on this, and we have a good plan." Stewart said that the staff at the facility, formerly known as the Elyria Wastewater Treatment Plant before its name was changed last year at the behest of the Ohio EPA, had already started on the process of pumping down the contents of the digesters because it would make the cleaning easier regardless. On Monday the committee voted to recommend approval of that contract and send it before Council as a whole for final approval. "So we are looking at, versus 8 years ago, a 60 percent, roughly, on average reduction in our cost," Councilman Phil Tollett, D-at Large, said Monday. "That is awesome." Also at Monday's meeting, the committee recognized the fact that Stewart had officially completed his certification to become a Class IV certified wastewater operator in the state of Ohio. Class IV is the highest level of certification offered in Ohio, and it is required to lead a sophisticated municipal wastewater system like Elyria's on a full-time basis. Stewart took over as plant superintendent last year contingent on him earning his Class IV certification. Councilman Phil Tollett, D-at Large, the chairman of the Finance Committee, offered his congratulations to Stewart on Monday, who was then applauded by the committee members and city officials present. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.