New San Luis, Ariz., lift station to go online in September
BY DIANA SUAREZ, SUN STAFF WRITER
Aug 6, 2006, 10:27 pm
SAN LUIS, Ariz. — A new sewer lift station should help clear the air for Ana Karen Gonzalez and other residents on the west end of town, city officials say.
By the end of September, a contractor is scheduled to complete work to replace an aging sewer lift station at Juan Sanchez Boulevard and Hidalgo Avenue, city Public Works Director David Ford said.
As a result of rapid city growth, households on the west end of the city now discharge wastewater faster than the lift station can pump it to the city's single sewage treatment plant, city officials say.
Gonzalez said fetid odors hang in the air in the Los Jardines neighborhood where she lives, as well as the nearby Los Portales and Escondido subdivisions.
"It smells really bad," Gonzalez said. "Sometimes just driving or walking by is unbearable."
Once the new lift station is in place, "we'll be happy to drive by," she said.
The new station is designed to pump 3 million gallons of wastewater per day, Ford said, compared to the daily average of 1.1 million gallons pumped by the current station.
The $2-million project, which began in November, is being funded through the city's $40-million bond issue, Ford said.
He said the upgraded station is designed to be functional for 30 years or more, but its actual period of usefulness will depend on the city's future growth, said Kent Marley, president of Clear Solutions Engineering, a contractor for the project.
City Manager Lee Maness said the city's population is expected to double in five years.
Work is under way on a second wastewater treatment plant that will serve the east side of the city where the future growth is expected to occur, Ford said.
The East Mesa Waste Water Treatment Plant, anticipated to cost $4.5 million, will be ready to function by the end of January.
The new lift station and wastewater treatment plant are "high priority" projects for the city, city councilwoman Nieves Riedel said.
"Anything that betters the life of the residents makes me happy," she said.