Laserfiche WebLink
Page 1 of 3 <br /> Tom F. Fudala <br /> From: Water and Wastes Digest magazine [mail@sgc-ecros.com] <br /> Sent: . Friday, March 25, 2011 11:03 AM <br /> To: Tom F. Fudala <br /> Subject: WWD Case-of-the-Week-Savings Magnified <br /> VA Bi <br /> OF THE IWEEK <br /> Savings Magnified Pass this along to <br /> a friend: <br /> Oklahoma public-private partnership saves city$150,000-plus in first click here <br /> year <br /> by Eric Risch <br /> It was a classic case of understatement. <br /> The headline in an October 2010 edition of the Clinton(Okla.)Daily News proclaimed,"City <br /> sewer,water plants doing well." <br /> During the summer of 2010,a public-private partner had begun operation of the city of <br /> Clinton's 4-million-gal-per-day(mgd)sewer plant and its 5.5-mgd Clinton Lake water <br /> treatment plant.The wastewater treatment plant was experiencing chronic sludge <br /> overloading when receiving only a quarter of the design flow.At the water treatment plant, <br /> turbidity rates were high, resulting in poor drinking water taste and odor. Energy <br /> consumption by the two plants was much higher than expected. <br /> The first-year cost of the contract with <br /> the new public-private partner was <br /> approximately$160,000 less than it <br /> was costing the city to operate and <br /> maintain the plants by itself.Three t <br /> months after the partnership A. _- <br /> commenced,water and wastewater <br /> quality and compliance had improved. _ <br /> The city manager reported that the <br /> plants were running at"much improved <br /> levels of efficiency,"and the plants' <br /> energy.usage had been significantly <br /> reduced. <br /> Partnership helped improve the plants'performance <br /> Doing well, indeed. <br /> When Clinton officials decided to initiate a search for a public-private partner to operate its <br /> water and wastewater systems,they looked close to home, in Chickasha, Okla. Located 45 <br /> miles southeast of Oklahoma City,the Chickasha wastewater treatment plant has been <br /> operated by Severn Trent Services through a public-private partnership since 1979.After <br /> talking with Chickasha representatives,the city of Clinton chose Severn Trent Services to <br /> operate its plants. <br /> Addressing Excessive Sludge Inventory <br /> Prior to the partnership,compliance with Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality <br /> (ODEQ)wastewater quality standards also was an issue, as the plant did not pass two <br /> consecutive quarterly whole effluent toxicity(WET)tests, requiring that the plant perform <br /> toxicity reduction evaluations. <br /> 3/25/2011 <br />