RWSA to tackle nasty sewage smell

The offensive odors that regularly waft through the Belmont and Woolen Mills neighborhoods from the nearby wastewater treatment plant may soon be a thing of the past.
The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority board agreed Monday to spend $5.2 million in hopes of eradicating the odors. Previously, an outside consultant had projected eliminating the smells could cost between $11 million and $32 million, which could have meant a large spike in residents’ sewer bills.
The new $5.2 million odor project will be a part of a larger, almost $150 million plan the board also passed Monday.
In the first phase of the odor control project, which will cost $3 million, the authority will build a new, enclosed septage receiving station, which will be “scrubbed” to treat the malodorous air. This phase could be finished by the end of 2009.
The second step will include installing equipment to clean holding bins and basins, and building new wash-down systems, at a cost of $2.2 million. It is not yet clear when this step will be completed.
After the first two steps of the project are completed, authority officials will survey the surrounding neighborhoods to determine if the smells have dissipated. If not, they will consider taking further actions.
“We will only go as far as we need to go to address the concerns in the community,” said Thomas L. Frederick Jr., the authority’s executive director.
For years, residents have complained that the smells from the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant have induced headaches, ruined outdoor barbeques and driven down property values. To ease neighbors’ concerns, the plant ceased composting operations in 2006, but the smell persisted. Some claim that last summer’s drought exacerbated the problem.
Bill Emory, who has been following the odor issue for the Woolen Mills Neighborhood Association, said he is pleased that Rivanna officials have devoted more money to mitigate the odors.
“It’s a very positive first step,” he said. “But how positive will depend on the city getting better input from affected city residents.”
But the cost of the odor controls could be passed on to customers in the form of higher bills. The average Charlottesville household pays $65 per month for water and sewer services, while the average Albemarle County household pays $61.
Emory would have rather seen officials endorse one of the more aggressive and expensive options presented by the consultant, but said he understands that the authority does not want to burden residents.
“They are trying to be fiscally conservative and don’t want all the ratepayers to come strangle them,” he added.
5-year improvements
The RWSA board also unanimously passed an almost $150 million plan that funds five years worth of infrastructure improvements to Albemarle County and Charlottesville’s water and sewer systems. While the bulk of the total is for sewer-related projects, plans also include the first phase of a system that will provide the area’s future water supply. The improvements still need to be ratified by both Charlottesville and Albemarle County authorities.
Rivanna charges both the city and county wholesale rates, which the localities then pass on to customers. The bill residents pay, though, would include both the projects in Rivanna’s five-year plan and projects within localities.
The five-year water plan would cause a 1.2 percent-per-year hike for city residents’ water rates, Frederick said. For the city’s sewer rates, it would be 6.8 percent per year. County ratepayers will see similar jumps: 2.5 percent per year for water and 5.7 percent per year for wastewater.
The plan includes about $43 million related to the community’s 50-year water supply plan, which would include construction of a new dam at Ragged Mountain Reservoir and a pipeline to fill it. While the pipeline would be built sometime in the future, $42.7 million is aimed at the new dam construction. Officials hope to have the dam built in 2011.
The 50-year water supply plan, estimated at nearly $142 million, has come under scrutiny in recent weeks as critics have suggested that the authority hasn’t considered less expensive options. Frederick said the authority continues to move ahead with a plan officials say has been fully vetted.
Wastewater and sewer projects make up the bulk of the plan. The RWSA’s plan includes more than $88 million in wastewater projects. More than half of that is related to upgrades of the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, a little more than $15 million of which will be paid for by state grants. The project includes the removal of certain pollutants as a part of regional efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
Another big expenditure are improvements to the Meadow Creek Interceptor, which runs from near the U.S. 250 and Emmet Street interchange to the Meadowcreek Golf Course off East Rio Road. Improving that sewer line, which serves both Charlottesville and Albemarle County, will cost an estimated $25.5 million.