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The North Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) located on Goodwin Road provides all of the wastewater treatment needs for the City of Ruston. The first WWTP at this location was a trickling-filter plant built around 1955, upgraded to 4 million gallon-per-day (MGD) activated sludge treatment plant in 1977, and is now in the process of being upgraded and expanded to 6 MGD capacity for use by December, 2007. The plant receives flow from seven major sewer lift stations located throughout the City in the wastewater collection system. Although the name “North” might seem to imply that there is a South plant, there is not. However, prior to the North plant upgrade in 1977 the City operated a second Imhoff-style WWTP located on Vaughn Street, but this facility was decommissioned when the North plant was upgraded. The name stuck, and we refer to it as the North Plant.
A second major component of the WWTP is the 100 acre Beneficial Use Facility, or hayfarm, located east of the City off Beacon Light Road. The WWTP generates a residual, or sludge, that is classified as a Class “B” Biosolids. These biosolids are similar to the compost material that you might use in your garden, only in liquid form. Also, since the biosolids are a by-product of human waste treatment they must be further treated to insure that there is no possibility of contamination to end users. To accomplish this the sludge is stored and applied systematically to a 52 acre hayfield, where hay growth and light act to further decompose and disinfect the biosolids in an environmentally safe manner. The high-quality hay is harvested and sold to cattle and horse ranchers, but is restricted from use by dairy and goat ranchers.
In September of 2003, the City employed Black & Veatch Corp., Dallas, Tx, and the Riley Co. of La., Ruston, to design the NTP Upgrade and Expansion project to expand the City’s treatment capacity to 6 MGD. This agreement was the culmination of three years of research and planning by City personnel, and served as the basis of an agreement between the City and the La. Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) to address compliance issues with the treatment system and the collection system that had been accumulating for years. By working closely with the LDEQ, City administration was able to demonstrate to LDEQ that the City recognized our responsibility for good stewardship of the environment, that we had a plan to resolve current issues and provide for future collection system needs, and that the City leadership was committed to needed construction projects as well as on-going operation and maintenance programs. After six years of planning, design and construction, the improvements to the WWTP are scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2007 for an estimated $17.5 million, $2,000,000 under the original estimated cost. The expansion includes increasing the existing 4 MGD plant to 6 MGD capacity as well as adding solids screening, grit removal, liquid treatment, filtration, ultraviolet disinfection, sludge thickening, odor control, administration building, and stand-by power generation. Once completed and on-line the new plant discharge will actually be cleaner and safer than the creek into which we discharge!
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