GRANTS PASS, Ore.– Millions of gallons of raw sewage were dumped into the Rogue River Monday after a wastewater treatment plant hit maximum capacity due to the heavy rain.
Grants Pass Wastewater Treatment Plant says it was forced to do so in order to avoid overflowing and shutting down the facility. Superintendent Gary Brelinksi says if they didn’t bypass the treatment center and divert the sewage it could have forced the plant to close for weeks.
“This one was a little more impactful with the, you know, the snow in the foothills and then you get the rain afterwards that melts the snow and that helps to add to it,” said Brelinksi.
The torrential downpour of rain and snow in Grants Pass pushed the city’s wastewater plant to the limit. Normally during the winter the plant can treat about six and a half to seven million gallons a day. But on Monday, it hit its peak at 32 million gallons.
This forced plant Brelinski to make the decision to bypass treatment and push raw sewage into the Rogue River. It’s estimated about four million gallons went in.
The plant has since been able to stop the bypass of sewage as of Tuesday morning. However, the plant was still sitting at around 22 million gallons and with more snow and rain in the forecast, a chance of another bypass could be around the corner.
But the plant says it’s either that or risk shutting down the facility.
“At that point, you’ll kill the plant and then you won’t be treating for anywhere from weeks to months at a time until you can bring it back again,” he said.
Since the facility uses bacteria and other live organisms to eat and clean up the fecal matter, an overflow would have effectively killed off everything. Brelinski says the city’s infrastructure, specifically the piping desperately needs to be updated.
“A lot of those pipes have been here for decades and as there in the ground they crack, they break, there’s openings,” he said. “And as you get this high water table, water will flow the path of least resistance.”
Brelinksi says that’s what led to so much water rushing into the facility causing a dilution in the amount of sewage being taken in. Fortunately, the city is aware of the problem but it’s taken some time to get a resolution.
“What we would like is to redo our entire system about once every 100 to 150 years,” said Public Works Director Jason Canady. “Right now we’re on about a 250 year cycle.”
Canady says they’ve been making small incremental changes over the years but they just don’t have enough money to fix it as fast as the city would like.
In the past, the city has been spending about $2 million a year in improvements to the pipes or collections system as it’s called. Ideally though, the city needs to spend two to three times that amount in order to make any lasting change.
While the city raised rates by 7 percent for 2019, with another 7 percent planned for 2020, they’re not ready to raise them again anytime soon. But at a certain point, it’ll have to happen.
“Nobody ever wants to see their bill go up but it is inevitable,” said Canady. “It is something we’re going to have to face.”
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