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Waste-water woes
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| A nearly dry Cochise Lake, from the west, on Nov. 1. (photo courtesy/Peta-Anne Tenney) |
By Carol Broeder/Arizona Range News
Some local birders have expressed concerns that low water in Cochise Lake/Twin Lakes might discourage birds from migrating there.
But City Manager Pat McCourt wants them to know that Willcox has taken steps to increase the water level.
"Earlier this year, the city did not have a discharge permit from the state, so I told Public Works to shut off the water," he told the Range News.
Cochise Lake is filled by two water sources. One is a city well, where the water is pumped straight out of the ground; and the other is effluent water from the wastewater treatment facility.
McCourt had hoped for more rain in the fall to replenish the lake, "which had dropped about a foot," though it looks like more due to the height of the banks, he said.
"I thought that temperatures would drop and we would have more effluent to use," but that didn't happen. Also due to the warm fall, the Twin Lakes Golf Course is using more of the effluent water on the grounds.
So public works employees "turned the well back on a couple of weeks ago," McCourt explained last week.
With other issues to deal with, McCourt said the Cochise Lake water level had slipped his mind, but Dave Bonner, the city's director of public services and works, and Utilities Supervisor John Bowen had remembered.
"That's what happens when you have good people working for you," he told the Range News.
McCourt wants birders to know, "we are putting water in. We had no intention of upsetting the birding community."
Contacted Friday, Homer Hansen, chairman of the annual Wings Over Willcox event held in January, talked about the lake's "importance to migratory and resident birds as a water and food source."
"We have birds such as American Avocets that will breed here and literally hundreds of migratory species that use this inland water body as a stopover point for 'refueling' on their migration," he said.
"In addition, from historical registration records there are regular visitors from around the country that stop here to see the birds (several per day) many of whom stop in for coffee, a quick bite to eat, or fill up on gas, contributing to the local economy," said Hansen.
He explains that while he does not have current numbers, "historically and from incidental observation, there can be a dozen cars a day visiting Cochise Lake to go bird watching."
Hansen had called Public Works to inquire about the input of water into the lake, based on concerns raised by some Tucson members of the birding community "who emailed me asking what was happening," he said.
"I myself had seen the decreased water level too, but not as recently."
The city has been dealing with wastewater treatment issues for some time now.
In December 2008, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quaility (ADEQ) had cited the city with notices of violation on the treatment plant, Bonner told city council at its Aug. 3 meeting.
These notices included that the plant is "not producing water which meets or exceed the quality outlined in the various permits" held by the city, he said at that time.
Two of the parameters outlined in the permit are the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), said Bonner, adding that "to some extent there is a correlation between the two elements in that a higher TSS may also mean a higher BOD."
The city's treatment plant also accepts septage that is pumped and hauled by private contractors.
"The septage is very high in TSS, hence the BOD levels are very high," he said.
In fact, staff research indicated that this septage might be five to 30 times more concentrated than the normal waste stream in a typical city facility.
This septage is anaerobic while the treatment process at the plant is aerobic.
When a large volume of septage is introduced, the oxygen in the process is depleted to convert the anaerobic sewage.
Until June 1 this year, the city had accepted an average of 60,000 gallons of septage per month, he told the council.
If all the septage were at the highest concentration level, it would be like receiving an additional 1,800,000 gallons of sewage, which puts a significant burden on the plant's sewage treatment process.
In a June 1 meeting with three of the local septage haulers, Bonner, Bowen, and Jim Thomas told them that the city needed to limit the levels of septage to 30,000 gallons per month.
In addition, septage dumping would only be accepted three hours per day.
After some discussion, the septage haulers agreed that the afternoon hours would be best. Then, in mid-August, city staff and the haulers met again, and agreed upon 8 a.m. to noon, said Ruth Graham, the city's finance director.
"We have had a number of requests to alter the dumping hours or make exceptions on any given day," she said in her Sept. 16 letter to council.
The city proposed a call-out fee to accommodate the septage haulers for hours that the plant is not normally staffed.
"This fee is graduated based upon the type of call out," she said.
"During normal working hours, the fee would cover the time away from other assigned duties, as well as dispatch time."
During off-duty hours and weekends, an on-call staff person from the utilities department would be dispatched, and the fee would cover dispatch time as well as overtime expenses, said Graham, adding that an additional fee would be charged to cover call-outs on city observed holidays.
The proposed fee structure is to cover the cost of staff services to accommodate on-call septage dumping.
There is no surcharge from 8 a.m. until noon Monday through Friday; with $50 on Mondays through Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; $125 for early mornings, nights, and weekends; and $150 for city-observed holidays.
"The surcharge is based upon average cost of crewmen responding away from assigned tasks and duties, and response truck operational costs," she explained.
City council had tabled the agenda item at its Sept. 21 meeting, later holding a work session on Oct. 14.
John and Kathy Hernandez, owners of Cook's Septic, expressed concerns that they would have to tell a customer one price in the morning and then change it in the afternoon.
"It is better to tell them that than not being able to dump at all," Ted Zickert, another local septic hauler, interjected.
With a 5 to 2 vote at its Nov. 2 meeting, the council passed the proposed "Attachment A3," which expands the "free" drop-off times and increases the base fee per 1,000 gallons of septic, said City Manager Pat McCourt.
The $25 per 1,000-gallon fee was raised to $30.50.
This third proposed attachment was a result of the work session and other discussions, he said.
McCourt went on to explain the rationale used in developing the proposed new base rate.
"First, the average load is 2,000 gallons," he said. "Second, the amount of septic drop off would increase from the restricted amount during the test period of 30,000 gallons per month to the previous average of 60,000 gallons."
"Third, while there will be expanded hours that are 'free,' a portion of the increased amounts (60,000 - 30,000 = 30,000) would have been delivered during the 'free' period, and therefore should not be included in setting the new base fee per 1,000 gallon for septic," he said.
"Since there were four hours in the original 'free' period and three hours are being added, only 3/7 of the new septic should be included in the new base fee."
"Therefore, the new amount estimated to be received in 30,000 gallons per month at 2,000 per load," said McCourt, explaining that 30,000/2,000 equals 15 additional loads.
"The 15 loads are reduced to reflect that some 4/7 will arrive during the normal "free" period, and only 3/7 will have arrived during the new expanded hours," said McCourt, adding, "15 times 3/7 equals 6.5 loads."
In the original "Attachment A," it was estimated that the time to call a person off from other tasks to respond to the treatment plant, accept the septic, then return to the previous task would be one hour, he said.
At current pay rates plus fringe costs, this is about $50, McCourt said.
"Therefore, the amount of money to offset the expanded 'free' hours in one month would be 6.5 loads times $50, or $325 per month."
"The $325 should be spread over all loads within the month," he said. "All the loads are (60,000/2,000 per load) at 30 loads per month. Therefore, $325 equals $11 per load."
"Each load is assumed to be 2,000 gallons, therefore the additional cost per 1,000 gallons should be $11,000/2 or $5.50 per thousand gallons. Therefore, the new rate per thousand gallons of septic should be $25/1,000 plus $5.50/thousand equals $30.50/thousand."
McCourt said the fiscal impact is "very difficult to determine under the first two proposed attachment A's" because it is depends on how the haulers schedule use of the treatment plant.
Attachment A.3, which the council approved, will generate an estimated $325 per month into the sewer fund to offset the costs of responding during the expanded "free" hours, he said.
Vice Mayor Larry Schultz and Councilman Woody Johnson cast the two nay votes at the Nov. 2 meeting.
During a lengthy discussion at the Sept. 21 council meeting, local hauler Kevin Stamback asked why the city tests the loads "because no one else is," also asking if every load is tested.
"We should be testing every load to understand the process," said Bonner, adding that a facility he has been to in Apache Junction does so.
Schultz said, "I think I need to see the regulations before we start restricting these people."
Johnson then asked if the practice means, "the city is getting involved with private business."
"Not at all, " replied McCourt, "They can use other facilities."
But City Manager Pat McCourt wants them to know that Willcox has taken steps to increase the water level.
"Earlier this year, the city did not have a discharge permit from the state, so I told Public Works to shut off the water," he told the Range News.
Cochise Lake is filled by two water sources. One is a city well, where the water is pumped straight out of the ground; and the other is effluent water from the wastewater treatment facility.
McCourt had hoped for more rain in the fall to replenish the lake, "which had dropped about a foot," though it looks like more due to the height of the banks, he said.
"I thought that temperatures would drop and we would have more effluent to use," but that didn't happen. Also due to the warm fall, the Twin Lakes Golf Course is using more of the effluent water on the grounds.
So public works employees "turned the well back on a couple of weeks ago," McCourt explained last week.
With other issues to deal with, McCourt said the Cochise Lake water level had slipped his mind, but Dave Bonner, the city's director of public services and works, and Utilities Supervisor John Bowen had remembered.
"That's what happens when you have good people working for you," he told the Range News.
McCourt wants birders to know, "we are putting water in. We had no intention of upsetting the birding community."
Contacted Friday, Homer Hansen, chairman of the annual Wings Over Willcox event held in January, talked about the lake's "importance to migratory and resident birds as a water and food source."
"We have birds such as American Avocets that will breed here and literally hundreds of migratory species that use this inland water body as a stopover point for 'refueling' on their migration," he said.
"In addition, from historical registration records there are regular visitors from around the country that stop here to see the birds (several per day) many of whom stop in for coffee, a quick bite to eat, or fill up on gas, contributing to the local economy," said Hansen.
He explains that while he does not have current numbers, "historically and from incidental observation, there can be a dozen cars a day visiting Cochise Lake to go bird watching."
Hansen had called Public Works to inquire about the input of water into the lake, based on concerns raised by some Tucson members of the birding community "who emailed me asking what was happening," he said.
"I myself had seen the decreased water level too, but not as recently."
The city has been dealing with wastewater treatment issues for some time now.
In December 2008, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quaility (ADEQ) had cited the city with notices of violation on the treatment plant, Bonner told city council at its Aug. 3 meeting.
These notices included that the plant is "not producing water which meets or exceed the quality outlined in the various permits" held by the city, he said at that time.
Two of the parameters outlined in the permit are the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), said Bonner, adding that "to some extent there is a correlation between the two elements in that a higher TSS may also mean a higher BOD."
The city's treatment plant also accepts septage that is pumped and hauled by private contractors.
"The septage is very high in TSS, hence the BOD levels are very high," he said.
In fact, staff research indicated that this septage might be five to 30 times more concentrated than the normal waste stream in a typical city facility.
This septage is anaerobic while the treatment process at the plant is aerobic.
When a large volume of septage is introduced, the oxygen in the process is depleted to convert the anaerobic sewage.
Until June 1 this year, the city had accepted an average of 60,000 gallons of septage per month, he told the council.
If all the septage were at the highest concentration level, it would be like receiving an additional 1,800,000 gallons of sewage, which puts a significant burden on the plant's sewage treatment process.
In a June 1 meeting with three of the local septage haulers, Bonner, Bowen, and Jim Thomas told them that the city needed to limit the levels of septage to 30,000 gallons per month.
In addition, septage dumping would only be accepted three hours per day.
After some discussion, the septage haulers agreed that the afternoon hours would be best. Then, in mid-August, city staff and the haulers met again, and agreed upon 8 a.m. to noon, said Ruth Graham, the city's finance director.
"We have had a number of requests to alter the dumping hours or make exceptions on any given day," she said in her Sept. 16 letter to council.
The city proposed a call-out fee to accommodate the septage haulers for hours that the plant is not normally staffed.
"This fee is graduated based upon the type of call out," she said.
"During normal working hours, the fee would cover the time away from other assigned duties, as well as dispatch time."
During off-duty hours and weekends, an on-call staff person from the utilities department would be dispatched, and the fee would cover dispatch time as well as overtime expenses, said Graham, adding that an additional fee would be charged to cover call-outs on city observed holidays.
The proposed fee structure is to cover the cost of staff services to accommodate on-call septage dumping.
There is no surcharge from 8 a.m. until noon Monday through Friday; with $50 on Mondays through Fridays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; $125 for early mornings, nights, and weekends; and $150 for city-observed holidays.
"The surcharge is based upon average cost of crewmen responding away from assigned tasks and duties, and response truck operational costs," she explained.
City council had tabled the agenda item at its Sept. 21 meeting, later holding a work session on Oct. 14.
John and Kathy Hernandez, owners of Cook's Septic, expressed concerns that they would have to tell a customer one price in the morning and then change it in the afternoon.
"It is better to tell them that than not being able to dump at all," Ted Zickert, another local septic hauler, interjected.
With a 5 to 2 vote at its Nov. 2 meeting, the council passed the proposed "Attachment A3," which expands the "free" drop-off times and increases the base fee per 1,000 gallons of septic, said City Manager Pat McCourt.
The $25 per 1,000-gallon fee was raised to $30.50.
This third proposed attachment was a result of the work session and other discussions, he said.
McCourt went on to explain the rationale used in developing the proposed new base rate.
"First, the average load is 2,000 gallons," he said. "Second, the amount of septic drop off would increase from the restricted amount during the test period of 30,000 gallons per month to the previous average of 60,000 gallons."
"Third, while there will be expanded hours that are 'free,' a portion of the increased amounts (60,000 - 30,000 = 30,000) would have been delivered during the 'free' period, and therefore should not be included in setting the new base fee per 1,000 gallon for septic," he said.
"Since there were four hours in the original 'free' period and three hours are being added, only 3/7 of the new septic should be included in the new base fee."
"Therefore, the new amount estimated to be received in 30,000 gallons per month at 2,000 per load," said McCourt, explaining that 30,000/2,000 equals 15 additional loads.
"The 15 loads are reduced to reflect that some 4/7 will arrive during the normal "free" period, and only 3/7 will have arrived during the new expanded hours," said McCourt, adding, "15 times 3/7 equals 6.5 loads."
In the original "Attachment A," it was estimated that the time to call a person off from other tasks to respond to the treatment plant, accept the septic, then return to the previous task would be one hour, he said.
At current pay rates plus fringe costs, this is about $50, McCourt said.
"Therefore, the amount of money to offset the expanded 'free' hours in one month would be 6.5 loads times $50, or $325 per month."
"The $325 should be spread over all loads within the month," he said. "All the loads are (60,000/2,000 per load) at 30 loads per month. Therefore, $325 equals $11 per load."
"Each load is assumed to be 2,000 gallons, therefore the additional cost per 1,000 gallons should be $11,000/2 or $5.50 per thousand gallons. Therefore, the new rate per thousand gallons of septic should be $25/1,000 plus $5.50/thousand equals $30.50/thousand."
McCourt said the fiscal impact is "very difficult to determine under the first two proposed attachment A's" because it is depends on how the haulers schedule use of the treatment plant.
Attachment A.3, which the council approved, will generate an estimated $325 per month into the sewer fund to offset the costs of responding during the expanded "free" hours, he said.
Vice Mayor Larry Schultz and Councilman Woody Johnson cast the two nay votes at the Nov. 2 meeting.
During a lengthy discussion at the Sept. 21 council meeting, local hauler Kevin Stamback asked why the city tests the loads "because no one else is," also asking if every load is tested.
"We should be testing every load to understand the process," said Bonner, adding that a facility he has been to in Apache Junction does so.
Schultz said, "I think I need to see the regulations before we start restricting these people."
Johnson then asked if the practice means, "the city is getting involved with private business."
"Not at all, " replied McCourt, "They can use other facilities."
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