Wastewater To Be Stand Alone City Department; To Be Funded By The Existing Interceptor Sewer System Budget

  • Saturday, December 31, 2022

The city plans to make the Wastewater Department a stand alone department, moving it out of Public Works.

Officials said it will be funded by the existing Interceptor Sewer System budget.

It will be reporting to the city's chief operating officer (currently Ryan Ewalt).

Improving the city's sewer system has been one of the biggest items in the city's spending for a number of years.

The city earlier was sued by environmental groups in Federal Court for periodic dumping of raw sewage into the Tennessee River.

That led to a $337 million Consent Decree with the Environmental Protection Agency and preparation of a long list of projects aimed at upgrading the sewer system.

The City Council recently approved $186 million in bonds for a number of wastewater projects.

One approach taken by the city, working with the county's Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority, is to erect huge sewage storage tanks that are called on during periods of heavy rain.

The city operates the region's principal sewage treatment facility at Moccasin Bend.

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