WATER – A total of 32,750,012 gallons of water were treated and delivered, 9,319,000 gallons from Alder Creek treatment plant, 10,311,840 gallons from Brownell Springs and 13,119,172 gallons purchased from City of Portland. Maximum day production was 1.29 MG on October 20th. 18.41 inches of rainfall were recorded at the treatment plant site during the month. CH2M staff continued work on the clarifier for filter unit #3. We contracted with CH2M’s Corvallis lab to perform some bench-scale analysis of the PWB source to determine if raising the pH of the water would affect Disinfection By-Product (DBP) formation. Raising the pH did not significantly affect DBP formation. Curran-McLeod will review these results and explore other alternatives.
WASTEWATER – A total of 67,850,000 gallons of sewage were treated and pumped to Iseli Nursery for irrigation or discharged to Tickle Creek. Minimum flow was 0.81 MGD on the 1st. Maximum flow was 3.81 MGD on the 17th. Rainfall was 1.75 inches on the 16th and 0.95 inches on the 17th. A total of 15.22 inches of rainfall were recorded during October. BOD concentration was 13 mg/l; BOD loading was 235 lbs; permit allows 10 mg/l and 125 lbs.; SS concentration was 10.3 mg/l; SS loading was 189 lbs.; permit allows 10 mg/l and 125 lbs. Permit limits do not apply when the water is used for irrigation, these figures are shown to demonstrate plant efficiency. Due to heavy rains in early and mid-October Iseli Nursery asked that we temporarily discontinue pumping to their irrigation ponds to prevent any overflows. Plant staff notified DEQ and we complied with the nursery’s request. We ended up discharging to the stream for about twelve days prior to October 31st which is a permit violation. Since Iseli is obligated to accept our treated wastewater between May 1 and October 31st we will see how DEQ handles this discharge. 245 metric tons of sludge was processed and stored on site. No sludge was hauled and spread during October. The pumps at Marcy St.; Northside, Southside, Southeast, Southwest and Meinig Ave. lift stations ran a total of 629 hours with no significant problems.
STREETS & STORM – The street sweeping contractor spent 90 hours sweeping streets and collected more than 80 tons (110 cu. yds.) of debris, covering 334 lane miles.
PARKS, BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS – Due to all the rain and warm temperatures in October the west half of the dog park in Sandy Bluff Park greened up nicely and will be opened back up in early November. The splash pad at Bornstedt Park was closed for the season. Parks staff kept busy with leaf collection and removal in City parks. The City’s consulting arborist reviewed tree health and looked for tree hazards in City parks, open spaces and rights-of-way on October 5th. The arborist made several recommendations for tree pruning and/or removal that we will implement. Standby generators at all city facilities (11 total) were serviced and tested in October.