City hosts Open House

by Barry Bauer

The City of St. Johns held an Open House Monday, September 21, 2009 at its newly improved Wastewater Treatment Facility. The project, estimated to cost $4.6 million, was opened up to the public. Refreshments were served as well as a guided tour of the facility.

Mayor Dana Beaman and Bill Kimble show the plaque presented to the City by C2AE, the engineering firm that worked on the project. Kimble is the President and COO of the company.

Shown are three of the four new pumps that replaced eight antiquated ones.

Two of them are thirty horsepower and two are sixty horsepower. They not only have more pumping capacity and are also energy efficient. These pumps do not just start and stop, they run at variable speeds depending on the demand. Starting and stopping an electric motor uses more electricity.

A new addition called the Pump Building was added to one of the existing buildings and houses new equipment that replaces four holding ponds.

Heat pumps draw heat from the process and is used to heat the building.

These are just a few of the changes made at the plant.

When asked about what happens to the solid byproducts from the process Brad Gurski, maintenance foreman, said that some goes into land fills. Other solids are used as fertilizer and is spread on the participating farmer’s fields. The farmers have to sign a waiver saying that they will not plant certain crops for two years.