COLLECTION SYSTEM – SEWER LINES DEPARTMENT
The City of Belleville owns and operates a 275-mile long system of collection sewer pipes.  Staff consists of a Superintendent, 3 Teamster drivers, 3 Laborers and 1 secretary.

SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT
The sewage treatment plant operates 24 hours per day with a staff consisting of a Superintendent, Systems Coordinator, Pretreatment Coordinator, 1 secretary, 8 shift operators, 2 lift station operators, 1 C.S.O. operator, 1 chief operator and 2 maintenance operators.  The treatment plant is permitted to treat 8 million gallons of wastewater each day with a maximum excess flow capacity of 16 million gallons per day.  Currently the average daily flow through the treatment system is 5 to 6 million gallons per day.  Flows will increase or decrease depending on rainfall in any given day or month.

The treatment plant was constructed in 1938 and has been upgraded every ten years as industry and population increases in the City of Belleville.  The last major upgrade was a sludge handling facility, put on line in 2000. 

The entire collection system has 50 sewage lift stations that lift sewage from low-lying areas to the larger 36 inch diameter and 48 inch diameter sewer trunk lines.  Operational duties for these lift stations involves two operating engineers that switch off during a 7-day work week manually checking these stations.  If even one of these stations fail to operate for a 24-hour period, the sewage will fill the holding well and begin to spill over into the environment.  Keeping the sewage inside the pipe is one of the main concerns of any sewage treatment operation.

Once all flow of sewage is collected, it is directed to the Sewage Treatment Plant.  Treatment of wastewater at our treatment facility is a three-step process.

In the first step of treatment called “primary treatment,” pollutants that float and solids that settle rapidly are removed from the wastewater.  At the end of primary treatment, 40 percent to 50 percent of the pollutants have been removed.

The second step of the treatment process, called “secondary treatment,” removes dissolved and suspended pollutants from the wastewater.

This process uses bacteria and other microorganisms to decompose and consume the wastes in the water.  It is the part of the sewage treatment process that is the most complicated and is referred to as the “art and science” of sewage treatment.

Secondary treatment removes 85 percent to 90 percent of the pollutants in wastewater.  The City of Belleville has operated this “activated sludge” treatment process since the early 1940's and has treated a population equivalent of more than 130,000 people.  This treatment system was designed to treat heavy industrial waste that was mainly composed of brewery discharge and porcelain enameling waste flows.

The final step in treatment is tertiary treatment which is mainly a polishing filter process that removes the last remaining finely dissolved solids and organic pollutants.  Chlorination is used after this step to meet the NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System), discharge requirements.

All solids removed from the treatment system are pumped to anaerobic digesters for further stabilization and collection of usable methane gas for heating and running dual fuel engines that supply air to the activated sludge treatment process.  After the sludge is stabilized, it is then pumped to the sludge filter presses.  Once all the liquid is pressed from the sludge it is then applied as a fertilizer on farm land around the area of the City of Belleville.

This has been a short summary of how wastewater is treated in the City of Belleville.  The actual day to day operation is much more involved and complicated than what has been described here.  And because of additional state and federal reporting and testing requirements, much more time must be devoted to compiling reports and testing results.

Recent improvements to the treatment plant include:

• Upgrades and replacement of all pumps, valves, and electrical controls for three large process pumping stations.  A total of thirteen pumps averaging 20 hp to 35 hp were installed to replace 1940-1970 vintage equipment.
• Concrete walkway replacement.
• Roof replacement for all buildings.
• Tuck pointing on original Control House.
• Pump upgrades on four remote pump stations

More detail will be supplied in future editions of this information page and updates of treatment plant improvements will be reported as they occur.

As of March 2008