Superintendent Tim Woodward, left, passes out copies of IDEM permits to board members Brad Fishburn and Pam Johns. Woodward detailed the Turkey Creek Sewer District’s process of planning their plant expansion with IDEM at the board’s Monday, Sep. 16 meeting. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.

By Lilli Dwyer
InkFreeNews

CROMWELL — The Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District board met Monday, Sept. 16 to discuss progress on its plant expansion.

President Jim Boone proposed ordering two new, 11-foot rotors for the plant at $167,000 from Lakeside Equipment.

Delivery should take place in six to nine months, Boone said, and payment is not due until delivery.

The board considers rotors, which mix and aerate sewage, top priority in expanding its plant capacity.

“I need a motion made that we get these things on order so maybe there’s a chance we might have at least one of them put in before the Fourth of July,” said Boone. The plant sees its highest flow of the year during Fourth of July weekend.

The board approved ordering the new rotors.

Superintendent Tim Woodward explained that without rotors, it would be necessary to install a new oxidation ditch at the plant to expand capacity instead, a project, which would cost between $8 million and $9 million.

Woodward stated once the two new rotors are in, plant capacity will increase by 62%, taking design capacity from 0.5 million gallons per day to 0.6 million per day. Peak capacity will not change, but the increase will enable the district to take on more customers without overflowing.

“We’re capable of treating a lot of water, the issue is how long can I treat it, how efficiently do I run the plant? … What we’re doing is we’re making sure we’re getting above that 90th percentile so we don’t have a problem,” said Woodward. “For our future, we can accept a lot more customers.”

For example, the district is prepared to take on the Southshore Golf Course, which has 300 equivalent dwelling units, and the Papakeechie No. 5 area, which has 177.

The district has been in communication with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management about its expansion for the past three years. There may be operational issues once new rotors are installed, so Woodward will continue to update IDEM monthly on its progress following installation.

Woodward also updated the board on test drilling for a new well that could replace an older well built in 1963. Ortland Drilling and Water Services completed test drilling and located the right ground conditions for a well 75 feet down.

Now that test drilling is complete, Woodward said, there are two options: either dig a new well at 75 feet, or dig a bedrock well. Woodward stated he has never installed a bedrock well before and is waiting on a geologist’s report for more information to determine what should be done.

In the engineering report, Jeff Hersha of Jones and Henry Engineers, stated he has a meeting with the Clean Water State Revolving Fund later this week to discuss why the district was not found grant fundable for its plant expansion projects. More information is forthcoming at next month’s meeting.

The next Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District board meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21.