The gist
Pearland City Council at its Jan. 27 meeting voted unanimously to fund $3.5 million worth of equipment and service upgrades to Reflection Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. Over the past two years, the city has invested nearly $531,000 in the plant’s improvement.
Built in 2003, the wastewater treatment plant has experienced ongoing equipment malfunctions, including devices meant to monitor critical measurables failing, which caused the plant to fall below EPA standards, according to city documents.
Those measurables include dissolved oxygen and total suspended solids, as well the deterioration of the system’s ultraviolet disinfection system and cloth filters, documents show.
To date, the EPA has issued 38 violations for the plant, including exceedances for nitrogen, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids and E. coli.
The facility last underwent rehabilitation in 2018 and is not able to effectively treat the wastewater due to deferred maintenance and repair, city staff said
Quote of note
Council member Joseph Koza said he felt that the city had not prioritized the maintenance of its infrastructure, forcing the city to invest taxpayer dollars into repairing and replacing damaged equipment.
“I was kind of shocked with the lack of maintenance that we have,” Koza said. “It’s a lot easier to maintain stuff instead of running it until it doesn’t work and then say ‘Uh-oh, we need to fix it.’”
Digging deeper
Vector Controls and Automation Group, which was awarded the $3.5 million contract, will make the following upgrades:
- Rehabilitate the plant’s ultraviolet system, which is responsible for disinfecting the water of microorganisms
- Rebuild the system’s media cloth filters, which catch larger debris.
- Replace dissolved oxygen sensors and total suspended solids systems
In other news
Community Impact previously reported that on April 21, Barry Rose Water Reclamation Facility had 150,000 gallons of wastewater overflow due to an alarm system failure caused by a weather-induced power outage.
