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Show I-.'' i lL. l L-W j 4 ' t' - . i ' t ? ' .yx.t ' i - I-- v. y-? I 5 rV-vi -is ... - . . - JX V CONTINUES. The lens of the photographer catches the Shakespearean dancers as if they were faster than the eye. The Festival coSST through August 20 with Four productions. iut still has problems City officials stand by sewage plant stage facility west of Cedar City would be piped to a reservoir on Leigh Hill where it would be used for recreationl purposes, as well as source of a gravity sprinkling line to SUSC playing fields, Cedar High playing fields, city ball parks and golf course. Terry said the city is still expecting to start filling the lake by next spring, one year behind schedule. Embley agrees, stating, "We still have it in our master plan, with fishing and boating and the whole works." July average will probably be close to 10-10, with several days getting below the 5-5 level. "By the end of August we hope to have it down to 5-5," Terry said of the SUSC conducted water purity tests. "Most plants can barely hit the 1980 standards of 25-25. So we think we have the best plant in the state." The majority of the sewage facility is operating very well, Terry said, par- ticularly the biological oxidizing beds, or trickling filters. Alter an initial Although there are those who might call the Cedar City sewage treatment plant a "white elephant" due to its mechanical problems, a list of unfulfilled un-fulfilled promises and its smell, city officials are not about to give up on the project, calling it "the best in the state." Admitting there have been complaints com-plaints concerning the smells surrounding the $3 million dollar facility, City Manager Mike Embley said, "although it may sound like alot of excuses, there have been mechanical problems that have caused odors." "Once the mechanics are worked out, it will be odorless," he added. Vernile Terry, plant operator agrees. "This is a sewer plant, people have got to remember that," he explained, "and when something goes wrong it does smell." Part of the problem, Terry said, evolved from improper location of a gas compressor in the "digestor portion por-tion of the plant located on Bulldog Road. Minute portions of the hydrogen sulfide gas manufactured as a byproduct of breaking down the sewage sludge would escape from the compressor com-pressor and, in time, ruined the controls con-trols and therostats located in the same room. The function of the thermostatic controls is integral, Terry said, as the decomposing sludge must be kept at 97 degrees for proper breakdown. If the termperature drops 3 degrees, bacteria aiding in the breakdown die. New-controls New-controls have been installed, Terry said, and the compressor has been relocated on the roof of the structure. Because the sludge w as not properly decomposed, when released into sludge beds immediately to the east of the digestor, the sewage had a "sour" smell, Terry said, and was not able to be used as fertilizer as originally planned. The methane gas produced by the breakdown is also presently being released twice weekly into the air, Terry said, due to furnace problems. In time, the excess methane will be burned off, eliminating any odor from that source. Still planning Embley said the city is still palnning to clean up the methane produced at the plant to the point where it can be used as a fuel for city vehicles. He said the city is waiting for the outcome of a pilot program in California concerning the production and use of methane gas. Another problem that has beset the sewage complex has been the denials by the State Board of Health to allow use of the sewer effluent for sprinkling in public areas. Originally all effluent from the three- P KOHL EMS BESET PLANT. Complaints of a bad smell have, reached the city council and county' commission, concerning the sewage treatment plant. Officials say mechanical problems are to blame. He said the fence around the lake has been redesigned to follow the contour of the lake, and will have pedestrian and boat launch gates. Being sold Presently the effluent is being sold to North field irrigators and farmers are "glad to get it," Terry said. "Using sewer effluent for sprinkling is such a new thing," Embley explained, ex-plained, "that there is no analysis in yet. The State Board of Health is being cautious, and we think overly cautious at times, by giving us strict standards to meet." Embley said the effluent was originally planned to meet Class C. water standards but must now meet culinary water standards. Recent samplings and testing of the effluent has shown those culinary standards can now be met. he added. Terry explained the standards as being what is called a "5-5 standard." That is. five parts per million of biochemical oxen demand and five parts suspended solids. He said the separation of heavy sludge from the more liquie sewage, the watery substance sub-stance is filtered through the huge tanks containing thousands of fist sized rock. Fach of the rocks is coated with gray slim and algae, Terry said, which break dow n biologically the bacteria in the sewage. Terry said the sewage coming into the facility on Sundays and at nights is a light, almost clear sewage. On Sunday evening he takes advantages of this, he said, and flushes this weekend water back through the entire system after it goes through all three stages for cleansing purposes. "I know the State Board of Health will approve our water," Terry said confidently. "They have been a big help to us in training us how to best use the facility. I don't blame them a bit for having their standards. They don't want anyone to get sick from the water and neither do we It has got to be clean." Embley said. "If we have to spend more, we will. It's too great a concept to abandon." |