By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Getting rid of the stink from Bowling Green’s sewage treatment is proving to be a complicated and costly task.
On Monday evening, the city’s Board of Public Utilities approved spending up to $500,000 on the next reek removal effort – this one focusing on the pump station at the corner of East Poe and Mercer roads.
Over the past few years, the city has made several improvements to reduce nuisance odor issues at the Water Pollution Control Facility on Dunbridge Road.
“We’re not under any orders to do this,” Utilities Director Brian O’Connell said. “But it is an ongoing issue over the years.”
The previous improvements have greatly improved air quality, O’Connell said.
In 2016, the city enlisted bugs to help treat its wastewater. The city made changes to the aeration and “tricked” microscopic bugs already in the wastewater to eat the phosphorus before it leaves the plant.
A misting odor neutralizer was added to the biofilter’s exhaust fan in 2016, but it had limited success.
In 2017, the city invested in bigger fans and carbon filters, so the treated sewage would come out smelling better.
Then in 2019, the city took a step toward the next update, putting concrete lids on the biofilter tanks. The new concrete covers allow for the proper environment to treat the biosolids. The old aluminum tank covers were worn and the air seals that were supposed to keep the odors inside the tanks allowed the odors to escape untreated.
“We ensured any odors in the tanks will go through the aeration process,” O’Connell said when the lids were added.
With every improvement, the pungent odors emitted from the site lessened – but never completely disappeared.
And in 2021, the city got rid of giant blowers at the site and installed smaller, more efficient and more targeted blowers. O’Connell explained last year that the bacteria that consumes the organic materials in the wastewater require air.
“If they don’t consume the right amount of material, that produces ammonia” – and that produces nasty odors, he said.
The city constructed a new building with seven new blowers – each one dedicated to provide air to a different tank, plus one back-up blower.
But after all those improvements, the foul odors still linger in the area.
“We haven’t solved all of the problems yet,” O’Connell said.
So now the odor control efforts will shift to the Poe/Mercer pump station. This is the main pump station that pumps all of the wastewater from the west side of Interstate 75.
“We do generate some odors from that facility,” O’Connell said.
Staff has tried to reduce the odors at the pump station by performing more regular removal of the screening material but it does not eliminate all odors. The worst odors are seen during the summer months when sewer flows are down.
“I can attest to the fact it’s bad at some times,” said utilities board member Brett Pogan.
This area is near the Bowling Green State University campus and sees a large volume of vehicular traffic pass by it on a daily basis, especially during BGSU events.
“We want to continue being good neighbors for our facilities,” O’Connell said.
Megan Newlove, president of the board of public utilities, asked if this next effort should do the trick.
“Is this the last piece of this puzzle?” she asked.
O’Connell and his staff believed it would be.
The solution to be tried is the installation of ventilation fans with granular activated carbon tanks similar to those used at the Dunbridge Road plant. Also considered will be a ventilation fan with a UV photoionization process that was pilot tested at the pump station in 2018. Other options may be considered based on the recommendations from the engineering firm selected.
