At the November 12 meeting, the Lennox City Council voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC) that will allow the DOC to send wastewater from the new men’s prison south of Harrisburg straight to the Lennox Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) for treatment.
In return for considering the agreement, the City of Lennox will receive an up-front payment of $10.5 million. These funds will be used in two ways. First, the Lennox WWTF is in need of upgrades to not only treat the new wastewater, but to remedy current challenges with limited emergency storage at the WWTF. This includes a new sludge drying bed, additional emergency storage, and an aerated mixing tank. The City Council has expressed a desire to use the remaining funds to reduce the surcharges paid by residents on their monthly water & sewer bill. Depending on what is available, the average user should see a reduction of their monthly costs of approximately 20%, or savings of approximately $300 per year for the average customer.
In addition to the up-front payment, the DOC will pay a premium cost for use of the Lennox WWTF, with a monthly user fee of $52,500 and volume rates for any use over 175,000 gallons per day. This revenue – at over $650,000 per year – will offset additional operating costs and allow the City to depend on DOC revenue for future improvements at the treatment facility as opposed to putting costs for those improvements on the backs of Lennox residents and businesses.
Discussions with the community over the past twelve weeks have prompted several questions about how all of this works together. Answers to some of the more frequently asked questions are below.
1) What if we have another large rain storm? The planned upgrades at the wastewater treatment facility will include additional emergency storage for large rain events. At almost double the current capacity, this new storage will allow the City to divert additional flows into storage for treatment at a later date. This upgrade is a necessity even without the additional flow from the new prison.
2) How will we handle odor? A new aerated mixing tank is planned to be installed at the wastewater treatment facility that will mix existing wastewater from the community with the wastewater from the new prison. This mixture will be aerated in the tank, introducing oxygen that works to reduce odor. By the time the wastewater reaches the treatment basins, odor will not be noticeable.
3) Do we have the capacity to treat this much waste? The Lennox wastewater treatment facility was built to treat 670,000 gallons per day. With current use averaging approximately 200,000 gallons per day, the plant has plenty of capacity available to add the 175,000 gallons per day from the new prison, as well as to accommodate growth within the community.
4) How will blockages and backups be prevented? Any non-wastewater items introduced to the system (towels, rags, etc.) will be screened at the new prison prior to entering a grinder pump at the prison lift station. The wastewater will be pumped to Lennox, where it then enters the treatment system. Any items that could cause a blockage will be prevented from entering the system through several screening steps.
At the end of the day, this decision is about securing the financial future of the community. This agreement will allow the City to place the burden for future costs on the back of a single customer instead of increasing costs for residents and local businesses, while simultaneously cutting utility costs for every Lennox customer. Should you have any other questions about this agreement or the wastewater treatment process, please feel free to reach out to me at nvp@cityoflennoxsd.com or at 563.940.1620.