July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Sludge contract awarded (6/4/04)
Board of works picks firm for system to take water out of sewage sludge
The Portland Board of Works awarded the contract for a new sludge dewatering system for the wastewater treatment plant at its meeting Thursday morning.
A $27,014 bid from Blue River Technologies of New Castle was picked because it was the lower of two bids. The other bid, which was to haul the sludge to another facility, would have cost $39,200.
Wastewater treatment plant superintendent Bob Brelsford said neither option had any advantages over the other.
The new system will have 14 geotextile nylon dewatering bags, which are each about the size of a 30-yard rolloff dumpster. They will be placed where the drying beds currently are, which are no longer used.
The purpose of the new system is to separate the liquid parts of the sludge from the solids. The sludge, which is made up of ammonia nitrogen and low-level metals, will be filtered through the black bags. The liquid part of the sludge will go though the holes in the bag, but the solid parts will not. Before it is filtered, sludge is 94 percent water.
After it is filtered, the sludge cakes, which are 40 percent water and have the consistency of dirt, will be taken to a landfill and used to cover trash. The liquid filtered from the sludge will be held in a 750,000 gallon holding pond. The plant accumulates about 400,000 gallons of sludge per year.
Brelsford said the new system is needed because land previously used for injecting the non-filtered sludge is being eyed by an investor, and the 140 acres might not be available in the future.
“(The new system is) basically a quick fix” to an emergency situation, he said.
This is the land Portland businessman Glynn Barber is eyeing for an extreme sports park. The land is currently zoned as industrial.
Brelsford is currently looking for more land, so he can go back to the old way of doing things. The only requirements for the land are that it is flat and can be or is zoned as agricultural.
The board also approved the purchase of a dump truck for the wastewater treatment plant.
Bids were submitted by Tom Wood Ford of Indianapolis, Moser Motor Sales of Berne, Erik’s Chevrolet Commercial of Kokomo, Circle City GMC of Indianapolis and Ken Kunkle Chevrolet of Portland. The board chose the $32,900 bid by Tom Wood because it was the lowest of the bids. There will be no trade-in.
Brelsford said the department needed the new 2004 F450 truck because his staff has been borrowing trucks from the street department in order to keep up with its increased activity.
The board also discussed the purchase of a new backhoe loader for the water department and looked over some of the bids.
Water department superintendent Doug Jackson asked that the board accept none of the bids until he could review the information on the different models. He wanted to determine which size backhoe would best suit the department. The board voted to allow him to review the materials.
Also Thursday, the board voted:
•To accept the hiring of J. Aaron Sanders as a volunteer firefighter for the Portland Fire Department.
Sanders, 29, was the only applicant who showed up for and passed the physical agility and written tests, Portland Fire Chief Mike Thomas said.
•To write off delinquent water and sewer accounts as bad debts.
Businesses Snappies Cleaners and O’Ceder Brands, which both went bankrupt, and two former Portland residents owed a total of $114.71.[[In-content Ad]]
A $27,014 bid from Blue River Technologies of New Castle was picked because it was the lower of two bids. The other bid, which was to haul the sludge to another facility, would have cost $39,200.
Wastewater treatment plant superintendent Bob Brelsford said neither option had any advantages over the other.
The new system will have 14 geotextile nylon dewatering bags, which are each about the size of a 30-yard rolloff dumpster. They will be placed where the drying beds currently are, which are no longer used.
The purpose of the new system is to separate the liquid parts of the sludge from the solids. The sludge, which is made up of ammonia nitrogen and low-level metals, will be filtered through the black bags. The liquid part of the sludge will go though the holes in the bag, but the solid parts will not. Before it is filtered, sludge is 94 percent water.
After it is filtered, the sludge cakes, which are 40 percent water and have the consistency of dirt, will be taken to a landfill and used to cover trash. The liquid filtered from the sludge will be held in a 750,000 gallon holding pond. The plant accumulates about 400,000 gallons of sludge per year.
Brelsford said the new system is needed because land previously used for injecting the non-filtered sludge is being eyed by an investor, and the 140 acres might not be available in the future.
“(The new system is) basically a quick fix” to an emergency situation, he said.
This is the land Portland businessman Glynn Barber is eyeing for an extreme sports park. The land is currently zoned as industrial.
Brelsford is currently looking for more land, so he can go back to the old way of doing things. The only requirements for the land are that it is flat and can be or is zoned as agricultural.
The board also approved the purchase of a dump truck for the wastewater treatment plant.
Bids were submitted by Tom Wood Ford of Indianapolis, Moser Motor Sales of Berne, Erik’s Chevrolet Commercial of Kokomo, Circle City GMC of Indianapolis and Ken Kunkle Chevrolet of Portland. The board chose the $32,900 bid by Tom Wood because it was the lowest of the bids. There will be no trade-in.
Brelsford said the department needed the new 2004 F450 truck because his staff has been borrowing trucks from the street department in order to keep up with its increased activity.
The board also discussed the purchase of a new backhoe loader for the water department and looked over some of the bids.
Water department superintendent Doug Jackson asked that the board accept none of the bids until he could review the information on the different models. He wanted to determine which size backhoe would best suit the department. The board voted to allow him to review the materials.
Also Thursday, the board voted:
•To accept the hiring of J. Aaron Sanders as a volunteer firefighter for the Portland Fire Department.
Sanders, 29, was the only applicant who showed up for and passed the physical agility and written tests, Portland Fire Chief Mike Thomas said.
•To write off delinquent water and sewer accounts as bad debts.
Businesses Snappies Cleaners and O’Ceder Brands, which both went bankrupt, and two former Portland residents owed a total of $114.71.[[In-content Ad]]
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