Sanitary Sewer System

History

The City's wastewater collection system dates back to the early 1900s and includes vitrified clay tile, concrete, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic materials. The sewer system collects wastewater from 195 miles of sewers in eleven sewer basins in Albany. The sanitary sewer system includes pipes ranging in size from 6 to 54 inches in diameter and 14 pump stations. Albany also accepts domestic wastewater from the City of Millersburg's sewer system through a single 21-inch line. The Millersburg system includes four pump stations. Wastewater is conveyed to the Albany Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), a secondary treatment facility located at 408 Waverly Drive NE.

The City's WWTP was originally constructed in 1952 as a primary treatment plant. In 1969, plant capacity was expanded and secondary treatment was added with a trickling filter.

The WWTP has been effectively treating the community's wastewater for more than 50 years. Significant short-term and long-term capital improvements are needed to upgrade aging facilities and to meet increasing dry and wet season loads, more stringent environmental regulations, and increasing winter flows.

Capacity

Currently the WWTP has a dry weather capacity of 8.7 million gallons per day (MGD) and during 1999, the dry weather flows averaged 6.9 MGD. Although the 1999 wet weather flows averaged 12.7 MGD, the short-term, nominal hydraulic capacity of 21 MGD is occasionally exceeded, resulting in sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).

Sludge is treated by anaerobic digestion and thickened before application on non-food producing private agricultural lands. In 2001 a new facility was brought into production which significantly modified the disposal process by decreasing the water content from 97% to approximately 80%.

Challenges

The Capital Improvement Program for the wastewater system identifies projects that are needed to upgrade and expand the system for future users ensuring that it continues to serve current customers. Pipes are deteriorating or are the wrong size and service needs to be extended to areas that are not now served. Capital improvements at the Wastewater Treatment Plant must accommodate the wet weather flow volume to reduce the number of times the system overflows, and to meet state and federal requirements.