AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) – The Amarillo City Council has approved a series of financial allocations to address significant infrastructure needs at the Hollywood Road Wastewater Treatment Facility.
The total approved funding exceeds $1 million and will be drawn from various sources, primarily water and sewer revenues and drainage fees.
Currently, the city is focused on desludging the Hollywood Road Wastewater Treatment Facility equalization basin, the transfer of sludge to the River Road Water Reclamation Facility and the emergency procurement of transferring sludge to the River Road Water Reclamation Facility for ground injection.
“This is not a can we care to kick down the road. This is something that we’re going to take on, we’re going to deal with it and if we don’t, I think we’re going to have a much bigger problem,” says Cole Stanley, Mayor of the City of Amarillo.
Repairs and replacements at the River Road Water Reclamation Facility are required, such as a motor for a high service pump and a vertical turbine pump.
“By hauling the sludge, we’re getting additional capacity at Hollywood that we don’t have currently because it’s filled with sludge. You can’t remove all of it at one time because that’s the component that keeps the plant operating and functioning from the biological perspective. So a component of the sludge by removing it, we get capacity at the plant which then allows us to have proper operation of the plant,” explains Floyd Hartman, Assistant City Manager for the City of Amarillo.
Hartman says the River Road Water Reclamation Facility hasn’t been utilized until now because the sewage system is a gravity flow system. This means that the sewage will follow the path of gravity to a facility, and the Hollywood Road facility is lower than River Road. Therefore, the waste goes downhill to the Hollywood Road facility. There isn’t a valve to switch or redirect it elsewhere.
Hartman says when the River Road Water Reclamation Facility is operating properly and is permitted to, septic companies will be able to drop off at that location; however, the city says this is not a quick fix and will take time.
“The next steps you’ll see is filter media being replaced, head works as a plant being worked out, including the bar screens and the removal of the solids, but at the same time, we’re still working on inflow and infiltration out in the system and working with local stakeholders in what’s being put into the sewer,” says Hartman.
According to the city, this is an issue that’s been in the works for decades and won’t be a quick fix.
“This is not something that is as simple as just loading it all up and hauling it somewhere. It has to be treated, it has to go through the process, and you have to keep the plant operating with that sludge and that biological process,” explains Hartman.
Funding will be drawn from various sources, primarily water and sewer revenues and drainage fees. Mayor Stanley says the city is trying to work within the budget and is looking at any options.
“We’re very mindful of what this does to our fees, you know, price per gallon, that we charge our residents and our customers, but at the same time, we don’t have a choice not to deal with this,” says Stanley.
Floyd Hartman says engineers estimate it will cost $17 million or more for Hollywood Road to operate normally again.
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