West Lafayette is looking into the feasibility of new storage tanks at its wastewater treatment plant. The city currently uses lagoons to hold the liquid biosolids.
Utility Director Dave Henderson says a small leak in the current structure made him think it was time to plan for a replacement. He says the trickle stopped on its own and was likely caused by a small burrowing animal.
"If you're building a new plant, you'd be doing storage tanks. There are still many lagoons throughout the state. However, the storage tanks seem to be the alternative choice to replace lagoons.”
The Board of Works approved a no-cost feasibility study on using storage tanks in the future to hold the liquid biosolids.
Henderson says it could be five to ten years before any tanks are needed, but getting ready for such a change takes time.
"There is space [at the treatment plant], but part of that would have to be space utilized in what is currently the lagoon. We'd have to go through the proper closure procedures and fill that or build the tanks in that area, because we're pretty tight on space up there."
Results of the study, including an estimated cost, are expected in mid to late September.
Henderson says Lafayette has tanks at its treatment plant, although those are larger than what would be needed in West Lafayette.