Altamont moves to improve its waste water monitoring system

Aug. 18—ALTAMONT — Altamont is taking steps to make significant improvements to its waste water plants by installing a new remote monitoring system that will allow the city to respond quicker to maintenance issues or emergencies while saving money in the long run.

Last week the Altamont City Council unanimously approved funding for the new monitoring system from Hydro-Kinetics in an amount not exceeding $44,000.

Before approving the funding request, Ryan Spade, who works with Altamont's water and sewer departments, went before the council to share his proposal.

"What I'm wanting to do is upgrade the alarm monitoring that we use for the water department," Spade said. "The system we've got right now is pretty dated."

Spade said the city's current monitoring system uses technology from the 1990s and the new system will be "more effective and a lot more efficient."

The new system will allow to track and record data that the city couldn't in the past, which Spade said is "going to help out quite a bit."

"Along with doing the alarm notifications, it does a lot more cataloging and report generating," he said. "Overall, the cost of the system is gonna be around $41,000, but we can do this in phases."

The city's current system only notifies the department if the water at any of the plants or lift stations reaches too high of a level or if there's a power outage. Spade noted that even when those things happen, the system isn't very reliable.

Additionally, he said the current monitoring system requires city staff to spend a significant amount of their time manually recording data, something the new system will do automatically.

The system will also give the department a better idea of the overall health of its pumps.

"Instead of doing all the pumps or guessing which pumps I want done, I can pinpoint certain pumps, so I can save money right there," Spade said regarding the maintenance of the pumps.

If the city decides to also add a rainfall gauge at the south waste water treatment plant, Spade said the total cost would be nearly $43,000.

"And, ideally, you would get a couple of these and space them out around town," he said.

Council members ultimately agreed to approve funds for the entire project, not just the first phase.

"This is a massive step forward from what we have and what we should have probably had," Altamont City Commissioner Jason Rippetoe said. "I would just do all three. From what you're telling me, this sounds like a great system."

Initially, Spade only requested $29,974 to cover the cost of the first phase of the project, which would consist of setting up the system at the city's north and south waste water plants, but the council ultimately decided to increase the approved amount, setting a cap at $44,000, which will be enough to cover the city's lift stations as well.

The city's purchase of the new monitoring system comes as the city's water department continues to work with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency following a violation in June due to elevated levels of manganese in the city's drinking water, which exceeded EPA limits.

"We've had minor ups and downs with iron and manganese over the years, but nothing like what happened on this one," Vaughn Voelker of the Altamont Water Department said in an interview Friday. "It was a lifetime event, I believe."

The spike occurred after the water plant's destratifier, which mixes the water and chemicals, malfunctioned. Soon after residents began noticing color in their water before the city quickly worked to correct the issue.

"It's something we really couldn't plan for," Voelker said. "It was a real learning experience."

Voelker explained there is a platform where the destratifier is located at the water plant that sits on a piece of foam and is held in place by thin aluminum sheeting.

"Over time, that deteriorated, and it went ahead and dropped and wrapped around that six-blade fan that turns underneath there," Voelker said. "And as it did that, it grabbed the screen off of the side of it and wrapped it up in there also, so it just bound itself up to the point that it couldn't go anymore."

He said the destratifier currently has a bent blade and will require further repairs or will have to be replaced entirely. However, replacing the destratifier could cost anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000, according to Voelker.

Voelker said he and his department have been working closely with the EPA since the spike to correct the problem and update the public on the city's progress and efforts to prevent similar issues in the future.

"We're regulated on pretty much everything we do, so as soon as the number spiked, I called the EPA," he said. "We're still in the process."

The city recently sent out additional information this month as required by the EPA and Voelker said he expects to release more updates in the coming months.

According to Voelker, the EPA has yet to issue a fine for the violation but said it has already cost the city thousands of dollars to send out the public notices regarding the city's drinking water, make the necessary repairs and purchase the necessary equipment.

"We've spent several thousands on testing equipment," he said.

If something similar occurs in the future, Voelker is fairly confident his department will be able to make the appropriate adjustments to counter a spike.

"It should be able to take care of it," he said. "I don't really expect it again, but I never expected this one."

To get the destratifier running again, divers had to be brought in to do repairs, and Voelker said his department has been working almost constantly to help get things back under control at the water plant.

Despite the challenges they faced since the spike, he said his department, which recently added three new workers, "stepped up" when the city needed them.

"They learned a lot," Voelker said.

Also during last Monday's meeting, the council unanimously approved an interagency agreement with the Effingham County Sheriff's Office and the Effingham Police Department for a multi-agency special response team.

"I think this is our second year doing it," said Altamont Police Chief Alan Heiens.

Heiens said the agreement includes a $500 fee, but he doesn't expect it to be imposed.

"That's just put in there as a provision in case they start needing money, but if that is the case, then we will withdraw out of the team," he said.

Just one officer from the Altamont Police Department will serve on the response team.

In other matters, the council:

—Authorized the execution of a contract with Whistle Stop for private development pursuant to the redevelopment plan for the TIF area.

—Authorized the sale of surplus real estate at 312A North Eighth Street.

—Approved a grant services agreement with South Central Regional Planning and Development for a DCEO Water Grant in the amount of $35,000.

—Approved a contract with S&K Concrete for the replacement of sidewalk at Third Street in the amount of $67,092.79 with the condition that the required bonding is provided.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.