Knox Wastewater Department Superintendent Kelly Clemons alerted Board of Works members about a few problems they’ve had recently due to certain items making their way into the City’s system.
She noted that at end of 2019 and beginning of this year, there were some pump problems that had to be resolved.
The superintendent shared, “January 1st, I had to call one of the guys in because we had a pump that tripped out there at the plant and we had one late in 2019, same thing. When they pulled that pump on the second, it was full of wipes. So we’re having issues again with the wipes.”
Clemons mentioned that if a wipe does not dissolve in water, it should not be flushed even if the packaging claims that it’s ‘flushable’.
Superintendent Clemons added that wipes aren’t the only thing causing problems as there has also be an issue with grease gumming up the works.
She explained, “This past weekend we had an issue with grease there in the wet well. It’s built up, with the cold temperatures it froze and it caused a transducer to move which basically tells those pumps when to turn on and off and keeps the level there.”
Clemons continued, “The low-level float happened to shift too so it tripped and we had to do some adjustments on the level in the wet well and get some chemical down in there to try and break some of that grease up just to maintain that for now. We’re going to have to take the wet well down and clean it out as soon as we get some warmer temperatures.”
Superintendent Clemons said one thing that would help her Department is if residents were more aware of what kind of issues they could be causing.
She noted, “That’s something the public needs to know to get rid of grease in containers, don’t wash it down your sink and same thing with the wipes. Put those wipes in the trashcan – don’t throw them down the toilets.”
Mayor Dennis Estok recommended including a reminder on water bills so residents will be aware of the potential problems they can avoid by being more mindful.
In order to protect the City’s infrastructure and prevent the need for costly repairs, residents should refrain from flushing anything inorganic.
For more information about the kind of damage non-flushable items can cause and for a list of items you should never flush, visit ThinkBeforeYouFlush.org.
