Tag Archives: Utilities

Water, septic, sewer, utilties, Lowndes Middle School @ LCC 2015-06-08

What are these complicated
Moody Activity Zoning Districts amendments to the land development code that involve many maps and tables that
county staff are not showing the public, even though
one of the stated reasons is residential dwellings and family ties land divisions?


300x346 2379 Copeland Road, Parcel 0165 012, in Lowndes Middle School, by John S. Quarterman, 8 June 2015
What has Lowndes Middle School done for water and sewer until now,
when

it’s finally asking to connect to Valdosta utilities because
Lowndes County utilities are too far away?
Plus two water well and septic rezonings on
Mt. Zion Rd
and
Touchton Rd,
and
water and sewer for 24 acres of The Orchard at Stone Creek, Tillman Crossing Rd.
And
Utility Relocation for the Replacement of Franks Creek Bridge on Morven Road.

Many bids, including for
Paving on Coppage Road;
staff recommends the Scruggs bid.

Here’s the
agenda,
which this time (unlike last) at least does have the one- or two-page
agenda item sheets, but is still lacking the rest of the board packet.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 8,2015, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2015, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Valdosta Wastewater presentation to Greenlaw, Save Our Suwannee, SRWMD, Hamilton Co., and WWALS 2015-03-17



Due to requests from Greenlaw in Atlanta and Save Our Suwannee in Florida,
WWALS Watershed Coalition asked the City of Valdosta for a presentation
on their wastewater situation.
Valdosta presented less than two weeks later, and brought their entire
hierarchy related to this issue, from the mayor on down.
Plus Lowndes County, which isn’t even responsible for Valdosta’s wastewater,
was represented by their Chairman and a Commissioner.

Not all questions could be answered that quickly, but many were.

The slides are on the LAKE website and the videos are on the LAKE YouTube channel; see below.
See also Valdosta’s Sanitary Sewer System Improvements web page.

At the meeting,
clockwise from Tim Carroll (introducing), were: Continue reading →

Utilities can’t take the solar heat



Utilities are trying increasingly desperate tactics in their
losing battle against distributed rooftop solar power.
It’s time for them to get out in front and lead instead.

Clare Foran wrote for NationalJournal

Are Utilities Wilting From Heat of Solar Competition?

Regulatory battles over solar power payment models played out in
several states this year. And as the dust settles, solar providers
are claiming victory. Utilities, on the other hand, are trying to
reframe the conversation entirely by insisting they aren’t an enemy
of solar.

After discussing utlities’ attempts to bash net metering, she notes
the

Sierra Club

hard-won
victory over the

ALEC solar tax:

In November, Georgia Power

backed down Continue reading →

Valdosta Utilities Department 5-Year Action Plan

Received 26 April 2013. Basically Valdosta is accelerating its
plans to do something about wastewater, including adding pumpstations
and force mains, as well as
relocating the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant uphill.
Here are the summary pages; there’s much more detail in

the plan. -jsq




Utilities Department 5-Year Action Plan:

Since 1992, the City has received $179 million in SPLOST funding and
over the same time period has invested nearly $168 million in
capital projects for the Water and Wastewater system. This includes
SPLOST funding, system revenues, bonds, and GEFA loans.

Since 2009, the Utilities Department has expended over $49 million
on sewer system improvement with approximately $5.6 million spent on
the Withlacoochee Treatment Plant. When the projects listed below
are completed by December 2018, the City will have invested
approximately $230 million in capital projects for its Utilities
system from 1992 to 2018, a 26-year period.

PUMP STATION, FORCE MAIN, HEADWORKS AND EQUALIZATION BASIN PROJECT

Continue reading →

Solar could burn utility business model


Exhibit 2
Utilities say that like it’s a bad thing.
The same utilities that

left millions without power in the U.S.

repeatedly last

year, and that

gouge ratepayers for 10% or more profits.
Moore’s Law continues

to drive solar costs down and installations up,
with increasingly more each like compound interest.
Utilties need to adapt or get out of the way.

Last November Moody’s reported that solar and wind were eroding
credit for coal and gas power plants, and were already having

‘a profound negative impact’ on the competitiveness of thermal generation companies.
That was in Europe.
David Roberts wrote for Grist yesterday,

Solar panels could destroy U.S. utilities, according to U.S. utilities,

The thing to remember is that it is in a utility’s financial
interest to generate (or buy) and deliver as much power as possible.
The higher the demand, the higher the investments, the higher the
utility shareholder profits. In short, all things being equal,
utilities want to sell more power. (All things are occasionally not
equal, but we’ll leave those complications aside for now.)

And they want to produce that power

from big baseload power stations
for their economy of scale while the monopoly power utilities
get guaranteed profits, not to mention huge ratepayer and loan-guaranteed

boondoggles like the new nukes at Plant Vogtle.
(Electric Member Cooperatives are somewhat different.)

Now, into this cozy business model enters cheap distributed solar
PV, which eats away at it like acid.

Continue reading →

Valdosta PR about wastewater issues

The city of Valdosta responds. I have decorated this PR with a few
images with links, and a few comments after it. -jsq


Mayor and Council Address Recent Wastewater Issues,

The Valdosta Mayor and City Council are committed to providing quality
municipal services that meet the expectations of our citizens. In addition
to providing fire and police protection and other beneficial quality of
life services, the city leadership is equally committed to providing
adequate water and wastewater treatment services to its citizens,
maintaining a functioning sewer collection system and discharging treated
water in an environmentally responsible manner.



Recently, citizens have been inundated with information about
the current state of the city’s wastewater treatment plant and sewer
collection system, as well as the decisions made during the recent flood
event. The following information is provided to explain the recent event
and to help citizens better understand these important issues and the
dedicated work of their elected officials and municipal staff.

THE SITUATION

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Spilling Sewage Pictures by Gabe Fisher 3:30 PM 24 March 2013

Received yesterday. -jsq

Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:43:47 -0400


Manhole

All, just so everyone is on the same page- the sewer line is currently
spilling sewage. It just started at mu house but has been going strong
at sugar creek for awhile by the looks of it. Here are some current
pictures as of 3:30 today. It will get worse until the river crests..

Gabe

Continue reading →

More Valdosta wastewater correspondence



Some interesting questions have come up in
Gabe Fisher's continuing correspondence with the City of Valdosta
about

sewage in his back yard
and

under his house,
while

City Council Tim Carroll continues to respond,
both copying a long list of people.

From: Gabe Fisher

Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 14:23:12 -0500

All, I appreciate the update on where the city stands on moving the
sewer all together—I just wish we had been kept informed of
the plans over the last 4 years. Living with the *real* threat of
flooding is stressful enough, add in the guaranteed associated
sewage spill is more than I can handle.

I also appreciate the city workers spreading lime and working on the
sewer line behind my house today. But I have questions—What
about the sewage in my yard and under my house? Is this my
responsibility?

Thanks, Gabe

Tim Carroll responded with a couple of suggestions:

Continue reading →

Valdosta Neighborhood Covered In Raw Sewage —WCTV


Valdosta Flooding
As
he indicated yesterday,
Gabe Fisher got his sewage-covered neighborhood on WCTV last night.

Greg Gullberg wrote for WCTV yesterday,

Valdosta Neighborhood Covered In Raw Sewage,


Chad Harrison
After days of torrential rain, the same rain that caused the rivers
to flood, the sewage pump has been overwhelmed in the Meadow Brook
Subdivison just off Gornto Road.

“You know how bad it smells in a bathroom when someone goes in and
uses a public restroom. Multiple that ten times,” said Chad
Harrison, a local resident.


Greg Gullberg
The whole area behind their houses is just covered in raw sewage.
Your boots sink down into it with every step. We’re talking
everything from human waste, to toilet paper, to hygiene products
and a whole other list of things that are just too graphic to
mention.

“Probably about 12 to 14 inches of raw sewage,” said Harrison. “It’s
just everywhere. It’s all up and down the creek. It’s all behind
everybody’s houses.”


House
There’s more in

the WCTV story,
such as that the city has included neighbors in meetings, but has not
yet changed anything.
The city’s PR about the flooding
says:

Continue reading →

Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Fully Operational

Received today. -jsq

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release #03-13-02

March 3, 2013


Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant Fully Operational


Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant
At approximately 1:30 p.m. today, March 3, the Withlacoochee
Wastewater Treatment Plant was brought online and returned to
normal operation, after a loss of function for only three days
compared to the nine days of complete loss of function experienced
in the flood of 2009. Today, the river receded to the point where
the temporary by-pass pumps could be connected to the existing
valves. The system was turned on, became fully operational and began
full treatment capabilities.




Lessons learned from the 2009 flood resulted in proactive measures
which include the following:

  • The installation of bypass pumps, pipes and valves to utilize in
    the event of an emergency or act of God.
  • In 2009, the berm only protected the pump station, which did not
    prevent flooding of the chemical building, the chlorine contact
    building, the filters and the belt presses. The plant's
    electrical system was destroyed in the flooded area and the filters
    and belt presses were inoperable.


  • In this event, the electric system, chlorine cylinders, de-chlorination
    system and all flooded areas were turned off to avoid the
    damage that was experienced in 2009.
  • In this event, the biological, natural occurring bacteria that
    are used in the treatment process were saved so that the system
    could treat wastewater immediately when it was turned back on. In
    2009, the natural occurring bacteria were washed out of the plant
    as a result of the continuous pumping during the event.
  • In this event, the plant was fully operational in three days.
    In 2009, the plant had a complete loss of function for nine days and
    was not fully operational for over a month.

The city's drinking water supply is in no way

Continue reading →