Bradford Council hears sewer infiltration issues

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BRADFORD — Bradford Council received a deeper look into the village’s inflow and infiltration issues at the Wastewater Treatment Plant during its meeting on Thursday evening.

Village Administrator Rick Looker provided data comparing the amount of water that the Water Treatment Plant produced with the amount of wastewater that the Wastewater Treatment Plant treated. It showed the Wastewater Treatment Plant’s monthly flow was millions of gallons higher than the monthly amount of water produced by the Water Treatment Plant.

In some months such as February of last year, the daily flow was more than three times as high as the water plant’s daily production — approximately 714,464 gallons of wastewater treated compared to 190,464 gallons of water produced. In December 2018, the Wastewater Treatment Plant treated more than 23 million gallons of wastewater while the Water Treatment Plant only produced approximately 5.9 million gallons of water.

Looker explained that the village only should see a slight infiltration if its wastewater system was working properly. He showed the council videos of manholes where water is getting into its wastewater system from unknown sources. Some of the problem areas included the intersections of Elm and Vine streets and Elm and High streets.

“We have to get that water out of our sanitary,” Looker said.

Looker later said that the Wastewater Treatment Plant was designed to handle, at most, 400,000 gallons of wastewater daily, so the infiltration is affecting microorganisms at the plant.

Looker advised the council that the issue should be discussed in a committee. Some of the issues will be addressed during the Harrison Street reconstruction project while others may need to be added onto that project. Looker said that the village will have an opportunity to apply for grant funding to address other sewer lines not in the project area before the Harrison Street reconstruction project is complete.

The council approved discussing the issue in the utilities committee, which is the full council.

Also during its meeting, the council approved retrofitting its decorative street lights for LED lights. Looker said that going to LED lighting will lower the cost of lighting from approximately $52,000 to $6,200 each year in the village. He added that it also will have a five-year guarantee with the LED lights.

“It’s going to pay for itself in a year and a half,” Looker said.

The council also held the second reading of its proposed shed ordinance.

Council members Jeff Wirrig and Galen Balmert were absent.

By Sam Wildow

[email protected]

Reach Sam Wildow at [email protected].

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