300,000 gallons of sludge at Grantsville water plant seeking clean-up
The Grantsville water plant has about 300,000 gallons of sludge, leftover from processing water at the facility, with the cost of removal estimated about $100,000.
The town has been working on getting outside funding for its removal, the price tag is beyond the bounds of the of the town's budget.
The Charles Stevens Water Plant was built about 2000, and at the time of construction no provision was made for the disposal of sludge, a by-product of the generation of water through the water treatment process.
Water plant operator Roger Sweppenhiser said the water plant is currently operating at 50% of efficiency.
"In the years past, it is my understanding that previous operators "washed" the sludge out of the retaining basins back into the river when it was high. The practice is both illegal and unethical," said Mayor Curtis Garretson.
"In the last couple of years the Town of Grantsville has been cited for the amount of sludge that we have in the basins and in the tank."
"I have written plans over the last two years for DEP and EPA on how the town would get rid of the sludge, once the funding became available. This has adversely affected the efficiency of the plant and raised the cost to operate and produce quality water," Garretson said.
Garretson said the town is in the beginning stages of applying for an ARC grant to help resolve the problem, and the town is moving forward in applying for a rate increase to address the issue.
"This problem is no fault of anyone, the plant was not designed at the time to get rid of the sludge," he said.
The water provided by the Town of Grantsville is safe and passes all required testing.
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