Fresh Loaf

The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management says that R.M. Clayton, the wastewater treatment plant that was knocked offline yesterday thanks to flooding, is once again operational. The discharges of minimally treated wastewater have ended.

The Scattahoochee: Not as flavorful as it was Monday, but still refreshing!

From the department:

By mobilizing all available personnel and resources, the Department has been able to restore function to the primary and tertiary treatment systems of the RM Clayton Water Reclamation Center and halt the bypass of raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River. Commissioner Rob Hunter termed the effort ‘heroic’ and praised plant personnel who have worked around the clock since the river flooded the plant.

The floodwaters have been pumped out of the plant, which is now receiving sewage flows. The flows are receiving treatment at about 70 percent of normal. Plant Manager Rob Bush and Bureau of Wastewater Treatment and Collection Deputy Commissioner David St. Pierre said the Nancy Creek Tunnel was brought online at about 3 am.

The plant is still looking at millions of dollars in repairs, however. Err on the safe side and continue to avoid flood waters.

(CL file photo by Jeff Riley)

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Yes, the Chattahoochee will appear a little extra brown in the near future, as city officials have been given no choice but to dump dookie and minimally treated wastewater into the river.

Atlanta Department of Watershed Management Commissioner Rob Hunter this morning told reporters that serious flooding has shut down the city’s R.M. Clayton wastewater treatment plant in Northwest Atlanta and forced the department to dump raw sewage into the river.

The plant, which Hunter said is the largest in the Southeast, has sustained damages in the “tens of millions of dollars.” On an average day, it can treat 180 million gallons of poop-tinged liquid. As the AJC notes, it’s part of the city’s controversial combined sewage overflow project.

“It’s not imperiling or causing a problem for any drinking water supplies, but people need to minimize contact with the Chattahoochee River and all flood waters,” Hunter said. The city has already lined up contractors to make repairs and made first steps to qualify for federal assistance. But until the R.M. Clayton plant is back up and running, more sewage will be discharged into the river.

Sally Bethea of the Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper says the sewage discharge’s long-term impact on the waterway depends on when watershed officials fix R.M. Clayton — and how long the flooding continues.

(more…)

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Tennis moms, mall shoppers, and squatters in empty buildings have been given the OK from the Atlanta Department of Watershed to drink water from the tap.

Here’s what the department says caused yesterday’s advisory, the first Atlanta’s experienced in 21 months:

Yesterday’s incident resulted from a battery failure. According to Georgia Power, the initial incident started with a tree falling on one of Georgia Power’s 115,000 volt electrical lines, resulting in electrical power loss at the Northside Pump Station. When utility power was lost from Georgia Power, the emergency generator started as designed. However, when the control system attempted to close the switchgear circuit breaker to utilize the generator power, the battery failed and the Pump Station was not able to switch over to the emergency generator power.

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The Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless has met a court-ordered deadline for making a $15,000 payment to its wildly delinquent water bill — kind of.

A Fulton County judge last Tuesday ordered the city to reinstate water service to the huge Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter, on the condition that the Task Force pay its April and May bills by June 30.

According to Department of Watershed Management spokeswoman Janet Ward, the group dropped by on Friday with a check for $1,000. Then, yesterday, they sent over another check for $13,809.82, which left them short. Finally, today, they brought a third check for the final $190.18.

So, could the city have shut off the water again last night, when the Task Force still owed a couple hundred bucks?

(more…)

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Nothing kicks off a Monday morning like a 170-page audit of Atlanta’s $4 billion sewer system overhaul. We’re still combing through the beast, but Atlanta Unfiltered’s Jim Walls has already found some tidbits.

Walls:

Atlanta’s water department has illegally kept $4 million that should have been refunded to 29,000 customers who closed their accounts, a city audit shows.

Apparently, part of the problem is that no one ever told customer-service reps in the water department about changes last year in the city code. Auditors said employees who handle refunds were unaware of consumer-friendly changes in refund procedures.

On Friday, the AJC’s D.L Bennett wrote a good overview on some, uhm, financial hurdles facing the city and the project:

Atlanta officials fear the city’s $4 billion water and sewer system overhaul could collapse because the city’s crushing debt and already low credit rating threaten the city’s ability to borrow money in ever-tightening credit markets.

The city hopes Monday to issue $500 million to $700 million in new bonds for the program, with much of the money to refund old debt that must be repaid before interest rates or other factors send payments skyrocketing.

“We’ve got some considerable issues facing us,” city CFO Jim Glass said Friday.

No joke. And we’ve got some considerable reading to do. The audit is available here. (Warning: large PDF)

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Not good news for bonds, the go-to financing tool for many municipal projects.

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Representatives of Standard & Poor’s notified city officials March 6 that they were downgrading Atlanta from a rating of AA- to A “with a stable outlook.”

Word of the move was delivered to Mayor Shirley Franklin and members of the city council by Jim Glass, Atlanta’s chief financial officer, at the end of a two-day council retreat devoted largely to discussing the city’s finances.

The downgrade, Williams writes, doesn’t affect the city Department of Watershed Management, which is overseeing a costly upgrade to Atlanta’s antiquated sewer system, or Jackson-Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.

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Let the taps flow. For now, at least.

From the city’s Department of Watershed Management:

The Department of Watershed Management is restoring water service to Morris Brown College after officials presented the Department with a certified check for $30,000 a few minutes ago. In making the payment, the college complied with Judge Henry Newkirk’s order that Morris Brown pay $100,000 today ($70,000 after this morning’s hearing and $30,000 before 5 pm) toward its delinquent water/sewer bills. The balance on the remaining outstanding accounts, approximately $214,000, is to be paid on or before February 17, and the college must pay current charges.

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Good job, one and all.

Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management reports the city’s business and residential customers used an average of 91.22 million gallons of water a day last month, besting its conservation goal by 7.5 percent. Customers used 17 percent less than the 109.57 million gallons a day slurped in June 2007.

Those wacky bond payments being what they are, expect a token of the city’s appreciation to be included in your next water bill.

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The city’s Department of Watershed Management has released its annual Water Quality Report. A cursory glance shows that what’s flowing from your tap is suitable to drink.

From Commissioner Rob Hunter:

“The Water Quality Report continues to show the City’s commitment to clean water,” said Commissioner Rob Hunter. “We are proud of our system and of the employees who work diligently to make sure that we offer drinking water of the exceptional quality that our customers have come to expect.”

The report will be inserted into city water customers’ next bills. To view it before then, click here.

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