Tyrone held its annual council retreat on Friday, discussing a lengthy agenda of items in preparation for the upcoming year.
One of the items discussed was the impending need for repairs to the town's sewer system, in particular one if its four pump stations on the corner of Jenkins Road and Highway 74 North. Nathan Brooks, Construction Coordinator for the Peachtree City Water and Sewer Authority (PCWASA), addressed the council with the problems facing Pump Station 2. During a recent evaluation of the sewer system performed by Fox Environmental, it was found that a buildup of Hydrogen Sulfide was causing erosion to the concrete infrastructure.
Brooks explained that Pump Station 2 is downstream from Pump Station 1, which is near the Southampton subdivision and commercial center on Highway 74. Brooks said considerable amounts of water builds up down stream toward Station 2, and water is sitting in the pipes long enough that it becomes septic, meaning the oxygen content of the water has been depleted. A byproduct of that is Hydrogen Sulfide accumulation, a chemical that eats away at the concrete infrastructure. Brooks says that each of the five manholes between Station 1 and Station 2 needs some attention.
Brooks said the concrete erosion is bad enough that chunks of concrete are falling off, particularly in one of the manholes. This could ultimately lead to further problems such as damaged pumps.
"The only reason that manhole is up is because of the dirt around it, and the chemical is eating it up. The solution is to put a lining in, and it's something that should be done sooner rather than later," Brooks said.
In addition to a lining, which would restore the thickness of the cement and extend the life of the manhole, Brooks says a chemical treatment to restore oxygen to the water would be necessary to abate the production of Hydrogen Sulfide.
"You would come in, pressure wash down to the raw concrete, then come back with a cement type or epoxy product to fill it in back to a proper thickness. The station would be taken out of service while this is done. It's a fairly quick process," Brooks explained, saying that a much larger Peachtree City station had the same process done last year and it was finished in about a week.
Depending on the scope of the project and the competitiveness of the bidding process, Brooks offered a cost estimate of between $60,000 and $130,000.
Town Manager Kyle Hood said he considers this project extremely urgent, and council agreed to allow Hood to begin the process of sending out bids to have the work done. |
