Lexington councilmembers heard an update this week on how the city is managing an odor problem in some neighborhoods.
The city saw an uptick in smell complaints in 2023 in areas near the Town Branch and West Hickman wastewater treatment plants.
The city has been working with Webster Environmental Associates to help design and build infrastructure to limit the release of odors. New odor control units, including chemical scrubbers and carbon filters, have been built for each plant, and Martin says two more units are 90% ready for construction.
Director of Water Quality Charlie Martin said the division is also working to put another carbon unit in the South Elkhorn pump station near the Palomar neighborhood.
“It basically is in the backyards of these people's houses, and it's been a continual problem for them, a regular late fall odor complaint that I get,” Martin said.
As of last summer, the division has also begun testing different chemicals to stop odors from forming. Martin says the tests they ran last summer have been encouraging, and that they do not pose any health risks to the public.
“We spent all summer long last year working on this, trying to determine whether we could improve performance,” Martin said. “We think we can, and we think we can at a reasonable cost.”
The Division of Water Quality is asking for around $5 million to install those units from next year’s city budget.
The division is also accepting bids to buy more chemicals for waste treatment in the longer term.
Lexington Environmental Quality and Public Works is a financial supporter of WEKU.
