BELLVILLE — Two failed pumps — and two failed alarms — created a nasty wastewater situation along Ohio 97 on Monday, according to Richland County Commissioner Cliff Mears.
During a Board of Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Mears said he was contacted late Monday morning by Amanda Miller, the county’s wastewater treatment director.
Mears said two pumps — and two alarms — had apparently failed inside a 28-foot deep “wet well” over the weekend. The alarms are designed to notify county wastewater officials when the pump(s) stop working.
A wastewater “wet well” is an underground chamber or sump pit in a pumping station that collects and temporarily stores sewage.
It uses sensors to activate submerged pumps, transporting the wastewater to treatment plants or higher elevations. These enclosed, often concrete structures, act as buffers to prevent system overflows.
He said Miller went to the site after being notified of problems inside the well that’s six feet in diameter.
“We had a wet well that was filling with sewage because the pumps were out of commission,” Mears said.
“At that point, she realized we had to curtail as much as possible the (wastewater flow) from the businesses and the residences in that area. She contacted the businesses in that (Ohio 97/I-71 corridor) in an effort to minimize the flow into there so we could empty that out,” Mears said.
Ultimately, that meant “somebody had to get down there and clean out the debris,” he said.
Mears said the single biggest problems with the sanitary sewer systems come when people flush so-called “disposable wipes” down the toilet.
“I have heard this repeatedly from Amanda. They’re supposed to be disposable, but they really aren’t. They don’t break down. They clog up our pipes. They clog up our equipment,” Mears said.
“And that was a large part of the problem.”
He said Miller mustered the resources needed, including vacuum pumps and tankers. Around 3 p.m., she thought workers were making progress and businesses and residents would be back in normal flow.
“That was a bit optimistic, because the flow wasn’t reduced as much as she was hoping it would. Around 5:40 p.m., she went back to the businesses and again asked that water usage be minimized,” he said.
She said Miller and assigned crews did the best they could.
“We continued to ask if she needed any additional resources that that the county could provide, but it was really an issue of trying to empty that wet well,” Mears said.
“About 7:30, it had gone on long enough, and I contacted Mayor (Teri) Brenkus down in Bellville to let her know about the problem. She hadn’t been aware of it at that point,” the commissioner said.
Mears said he asked Brenkus to notify residents in the area about the problem and the work being done to resolve it. He said he also contacted the Richland County EMA to determine if residents in the area who had signed up through the county emergency messaging system had been notified.
Mears said he last communicated with Miller on Tuesday at 1:45 a.m.
“She had been up about 22 hours at that point. (She said) one of the pumps had gotten going (and) we had an individual that was at the bottom of that wet well that was able to clean it out,” he said.
He said the alarm company also responded to determine why the alarms failed.
Mears said Miller believed businesses in the area, including restaurants, could resume normal usage Tuesday morning.
He said the failed pumps/alarms are not part of the new sanitary sewer line being installed in the area and are part of the older system that will eventually be replaced.
“I got a text this morning from Mayor Brenkus. She made a comment that she had stopped out there and the crew was incredible to see in action. ‘They were diligent and dedicated, and (Miller) handled the situation perfectly,'” Mears said the mayor stated via text message.
“But at about one o’clock in the morning, I was really glad I was not the person at the bottom of that 28-foot pit,” he said.
