Elizabeth Township eyes pump station solutions

Commissioners hope to find an economical way to reduce hydrogen sulfide gas in the system.

Commissioners discussed equipment and chemicals at some of Elizabeth Township’s pump stations during Monday’s meeting.

The conversations included hydrogen sulfide gas monitoring equipment and pH altering chemicals to move toward a more biological and less expensive approach to reducing hydrogen sulfide gas in the township’s 8.1-mile force main system.

Evoqua Water Technologies is currently monitoring hydrogen sulfide gas at both township pump stations, according to Commissioner Kyle Walk.

“The current monitoring equipment they are using determines the amount of bioxide or potassium nitrate that is placed in the Buena Vista wet wells in order to keep the formation of hydrogen sulfide gas to a tolerable level,” Walk said. “As the board is aware, this has become extremely expensive and we are on track to run through $300,000 worth of bioxide over the course of this next year.”

Dennis Ottaviani of Veolia Water said odor control of the pump stations has become “a very large part” of the annual budget. He and his team have been thoroughly investigating since last fall to find other means of controlling odor that might be as effective and less costly.

The original plan had been to subcontract Evoqua to do the monitoring to allow the township to place its own equipment in there, according to Walk, which would cost around $20,000.

Ottaviani said they have been researching this for the past couple months, fine tuning the proposal of the biological process for the provider. The monitoring may not work, and Ottaviani wants to make sure there are provisions in place.

“One of the issues is that not many people have an 8.1-mile force main,” Ottaviani said. “That’s pretty unique and that’s a long force main. It’s what we had to do to get it to Boston and ultimately to McKeesport, so we are committed to that.

“Because this is a unique situation with such a long force main, I am confident that the biological will work, but if it doesn’t, I don’t want to have the township incur an expense for equipment that doesn’t work.”

The township is currently using Evoqua’s monitoring equipment for hydrogen sulfide, which is called vapor link — a proprietary monitoring and software that they utilize not only to monitor the hydrogen sulfide, but the dose of the current chemical they are using.

“We really don’t want to be locked into them solely for control and monitoring if we want to pursue other cost-effective options,” Ottaviani said. “In our proposal, we recommend buying our own hydrogen sulfide monitoring and control system so we are not locked into Evoqua. We have our own system and we can make choices according to our preferences.”

The second part of the discussion was an overview of where Ottaviani feels the township is at in the biological approach to creating the hydrogen sulfite, which decreases the formation and attempts to make sulfite gas.

That starts with experimenting with some chemicals to alter the acid base of PH relationship in the sewage itself, according to Ottaviani, who said the chemical approach is to raise the PH so the hydrogen sulfite doesn’t come out as easily.

The chemical, sodium hydroxide 50 percent solution, freezes at 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and Ottaviani said they can put blankets around the chemical on colder days. Even though it freezes, it can still be a solution all year round and provide significant savings, he added.

“We would like to proceed with that, and that’s not a real big cost expenditure,” Ottaviani said. “There would be a transition period where two systems are compatible. As we raise the PH, the bioxide will still work. We will have to work hand in hand with Evoqua to get them back off as we increase.”

Walk will recommend these plans, and he asked the board to look them over so they can ratify the vote at the next meeting. They want to get started right away because warm weather is coming.

“One of the interesting things that Dennis had mentioned is the monitoring equipment that the township could potentially be purchasing measures the hydrogen sulfite in a solution as opposed to gas, which is a more accurate way of doing what you need to do to treat it,” Walk said. “I am definitely going to recommend we move forward with this.”

Additionally, the board approved to advertise for bids for the Lovedale Pump Station upgrades project. That will include furnishings of all labor, material, plant, utilities and services required for the construction of sanitary sewage pumping facilities.

The board also approved a consent order for sewage facilities planning for the Rolling Hills community as part of getting approval from the Department of Environmental Protection.

The existing treatment plant is nearby, according to township KLH Engineer Kevin Creaghis, and beyond its service life. There would be a smaller scale taking out a treatment plant and putting in a pump station, and it would not bother the community.

“All this project is you’re not adopting any sewer lines in the rolling hills community,” Creaghis said. “You are just saying we will accept the flow from your new pump station at this point of your gravity system.”

In other business:

• All motions passed, including renewal of the township’s gas/electric company, payments for the new addition to the municipal building, the 2023 audit and more.

• Upcoming events include a blood drive Wednesday all day at the municipal building and the 15th annual Boston Trail Half Marathon and 5K Run/Walk as well as a township Easter event this Saturday.