Village of Akron Constructs New Pump Station
VILLAGE OF AKRON - The Village’s lone pump station is getting a makeover this year by the very same company that designed the wastewater treatment system more than 40 years ago.
Located in Tuscola County, Akron is home to nearly 400 residents and shares its wastewater treatment system with the nearby Village of Fairgrove.
In 1976, Spicer Group was hired by the Village to design the sanitary sewer system that includes more than 75 sections of pipe, manholes, and one pump station, which all feed into a lagoon wastewater treatment facility that is owned and operated by the Akron-Fairgrove Area Authority. Spicer Group then oversaw the construction of the system in 1977 and has been servicing the Village’s wastewater needs ever since.
Original pump station structure in the Village of Akron.
In 2015, the Village received a $425,000 grant as part of the state’s Stormwater, Asset Management and Wastewater (SAW) program initiative. This grant allowed the Village to develop a plan that included an inventory of their assets, an assessment of the condition of those assets, a determination of the level of service needed, a risk assessment, rate analysis, and a capital improvement plan for their wastewater and storm water systems.
Spicer Group assisted the Village in applying for the grant and developing the asset management plan. During the inventory assessment phase, the Village’s lone pump station was recognized as a critical asset to the system. If the pump station failed, the Village’s entire collection system could back up and cause tremendous health and safety problems for residents.
Sam Szaroletta, P.E., inspecting the contractor bolting up a fitting on the new force main.
“This pump station has been going 24 hours a day, seven days a week since it was built. It was just old and tired,” Don Scherzer, the Senior Project Manager of this project for Spicer Group said. “The equipment within the pump station had hard-to-find parts and maintenance was becoming increasingly costly and more severe.”
The pump station was also a can-type station and required confined-space entry by workers for any maintenance or mechanical work that was necessary. To maintain the level of service to the Village’s wastewater customers, replacing and upgrading the pump station was recommended.
More than 40 years after designing the first pump station for the Village, Spicer Group set about designing its replacement.
“We upgraded the station to a submersible station and upgraded all the electrical components and the station’s controls,” Steve Rutkowski, P.E., the Project Manager for Spicer Group said. “A new wet well was built, and the pump station was installed on top of it, eliminating the confined-space entry needs.”
The project also included upgrading the electrical service to the pump station and installing an on-site generator which eliminates the need for a portable generator to be brought to the site by the Village during power outages. These new controls allow for better supervision and maintenance of the entire system.
Interior view of above-ground sanitary sewer pump station.
Marv Hasso, the DPW Supervisor for the Village of Akron, said this will bring the pump station “up to 2020 standards.”
“In our systems right now, we only get notified of power failures or high-water alarms,” Hasso said. “The new system is more reliable; the power will be automatically backed up and it is much more advanced technologically. You can make adjustments, get warnings, and control everything right from your phone.”
The project also included replacing air release valves along the force main that delivers the wastewater from the pump station to the lagoon treatment system. These were also original to when the system was built and were not working properly.
To pay for this project, Spicer Group assisted the Village with securing a low-interest United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Loan.
Construction is set to be finished by the end of the year.
“When all is said and done, the Village is going to have a system that will last them another four decades,” Scherzer said.
Wet well installation.
“When all is said and done, the Village is going to have a system that will last them another four decades.”