The City of Lexington is in the midst of a multi-faceted approach to ease the sewage-related smell in parts of the bluegrass community. A third contract has been awarded to address the nuisance issue.
Division of Water Quality Director Charlie Martin said all three contracts deal with upgrading or replacing substandard equipment at the two wastewater treatment plants. For residents still smelling the odor at times, Martin noted the competitive bid process does take a while.
“In the future we’re going to have a more robust monitoring program to where we don’t allow our equipment to fall into disrepair and then we find out about it because the neighbors are telling us instead of us knowing it ourselves,” said Martin.
Martin said possibly the biggest test will come this fall when temperatures cool and odors can still linger closer to the ground. The division director says that’s when calls increased last year. Martin said addressing the smelly sewage issue may vary depending upon the equipment and process used.
“So, for one of them it’s a chemical scrubber that you add chemicals to. You flow the chemicals through in one direction, you flow the air through in the other direction, and those chemicals break down the odorous compounds and it spews out clean air,” said Martin.
Martin noted some impacted residents may feel like it takes too long. But, he added the competitive bidding process does take a while. Now that contracts have been awarded, Martin said it’s on him to keep in contact with contractors to get the work done in a timely manner.
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