MONROE - So close, but still no cigars ... or any other garbage that gets into the water treatment stream.
The municipality's old headworks - where raw sewage from all over the city comes into the wastewater treatment plant - recently lost its mechanical ability to remove gross solids collected by the initial screening grates.
The building is close to being shut down; the plant is moving this initial stage of the treatment process to a brand new facility.
The new headworks facility, the last major structure being built for the city's wastewater treatment plant upgrade, is already in the ground. Unfortunately, it will not be finished until October.
Meanwhile, plant employees have been and will be manually raking the large screening grates, pulling out the trapped natural debris, such as sticks and stones, and the unnatural debris, such as human personal care and protection products - most made of plastics.
"It's not so bad," said Water and Wastewater Utilities Supervisor Mike Kennison.
"It's only a couple times a day," added Director of Public Works Colin Simpson.
Welcome to public works. What may revolt most people is taken as a matter of course for those who work every day in the litter and waste in the streets and underground.
But work is starting to get better for the city's wastewater employees.
Monroe's $24.8 million, two-year project to update its wastewater facilities and processes is one year old this spring. The project so far is $660,000 over bid, following the last change order for $156,000, which passed through the Board of Public Works on Monday.
Simpson sees no reason yet for the project not to finish on time. But then, there's another world of pipes and concrete under the plant, a conflicting world, some of it unmapped.
Following each discovery of a buried memory, Simpson and contractors have had new decisions to make - to reroute a pipe line; to shift a building location; or to dig out an old foundation.
The entire plant is a construction site, every bit of space is either under construction or reconstruction or is being used for staging. Two, and sometimes three, cranes are on site. Old concrete and rebar are piled for removal. New pipes and rebar mesh are stacked.
But progress can be seen. Most notably, the new, brick administration building has just opened.
From secretaries and accountants to laborers and vehicles, the water and wastewater departments have moved in together, literally sharing everything - the dining tables, the showers, a multitude of vended supplies and one, huge garage.
Every interior wall is shockingly white, an unanticipated cleanliness and an irony set against the external work.
The furniture style is minimalist, modern but multi-functional, and décor has yet to adorn the offices and meeting rooms.
The testing lab, always important for recording and assurances that the plant is meeting DNR standards, is now two to three times larger than the old one and is in full operation at the admin building.
Sample testing is even more imperative now, because DNR standards don't change during construction. Employees have been quick to react when construction hits an uncharted pipeline and to reroute the water flow, according to Kennison.
"The employees have done an outstanding job of keeping the plant running," he added.
For a city the size of Monroe, the plant was handling a larger-than-typical amount of waste but was reaching its limit. The plant's capacity requirement is unique, because Monroe's wet industries, such as those associated with producing beer, cheeses and whey, contribute about 70 percent of the plant load, unusually high for most plants.
Monroe's wastewater plant will have five aeration tanks in operation when construction is finished, an increase from the original three tanks, and all five will be larger. The walls of the three originals are being extended, custom-built. Not only will the discharged wastewater be cleaner, but the plant will also be able to handle a higher capacity of water volume, according to Simpson.
"As more businesses build in town, we'll be prepared to take the waste," he said.
At the other end of the process, the "cake" storage house has been replaced with a larger containment warehouse, a steel framework covered with white, reinforced vinyl fabric and a concrete floor.
Instead of being trucked, the cake, also called biosolids or sludge, will be conveyed on a belt from the new centrifuge to the cake house. There it will be further dried and stored until it can be spread as fertilizer on soil.
The warehouse can hold up to a year's worth of semi-dry cake. The centrifuge is replacing the belt press, which will remain in line as a backup.
During the next year, as building comes to an end, upgrading of the equipment for the treatment process will take center stage, said Simpson. The vehicles of the two departments will eventually gather in the massive garage, as access becomes easier. And employees will share a parking lot, cleaner and nearer the front door, instead of the street.
The municipality's old headworks - where raw sewage from all over the city comes into the wastewater treatment plant - recently lost its mechanical ability to remove gross solids collected by the initial screening grates.
The building is close to being shut down; the plant is moving this initial stage of the treatment process to a brand new facility.
The new headworks facility, the last major structure being built for the city's wastewater treatment plant upgrade, is already in the ground. Unfortunately, it will not be finished until October.
Meanwhile, plant employees have been and will be manually raking the large screening grates, pulling out the trapped natural debris, such as sticks and stones, and the unnatural debris, such as human personal care and protection products - most made of plastics.
"It's not so bad," said Water and Wastewater Utilities Supervisor Mike Kennison.
"It's only a couple times a day," added Director of Public Works Colin Simpson.
Welcome to public works. What may revolt most people is taken as a matter of course for those who work every day in the litter and waste in the streets and underground.
But work is starting to get better for the city's wastewater employees.
Monroe's $24.8 million, two-year project to update its wastewater facilities and processes is one year old this spring. The project so far is $660,000 over bid, following the last change order for $156,000, which passed through the Board of Public Works on Monday.
Simpson sees no reason yet for the project not to finish on time. But then, there's another world of pipes and concrete under the plant, a conflicting world, some of it unmapped.
Following each discovery of a buried memory, Simpson and contractors have had new decisions to make - to reroute a pipe line; to shift a building location; or to dig out an old foundation.
The entire plant is a construction site, every bit of space is either under construction or reconstruction or is being used for staging. Two, and sometimes three, cranes are on site. Old concrete and rebar are piled for removal. New pipes and rebar mesh are stacked.
But progress can be seen. Most notably, the new, brick administration building has just opened.
From secretaries and accountants to laborers and vehicles, the water and wastewater departments have moved in together, literally sharing everything - the dining tables, the showers, a multitude of vended supplies and one, huge garage.
Every interior wall is shockingly white, an unanticipated cleanliness and an irony set against the external work.
The furniture style is minimalist, modern but multi-functional, and décor has yet to adorn the offices and meeting rooms.
The testing lab, always important for recording and assurances that the plant is meeting DNR standards, is now two to three times larger than the old one and is in full operation at the admin building.
Sample testing is even more imperative now, because DNR standards don't change during construction. Employees have been quick to react when construction hits an uncharted pipeline and to reroute the water flow, according to Kennison.
"The employees have done an outstanding job of keeping the plant running," he added.
For a city the size of Monroe, the plant was handling a larger-than-typical amount of waste but was reaching its limit. The plant's capacity requirement is unique, because Monroe's wet industries, such as those associated with producing beer, cheeses and whey, contribute about 70 percent of the plant load, unusually high for most plants.
Monroe's wastewater plant will have five aeration tanks in operation when construction is finished, an increase from the original three tanks, and all five will be larger. The walls of the three originals are being extended, custom-built. Not only will the discharged wastewater be cleaner, but the plant will also be able to handle a higher capacity of water volume, according to Simpson.
"As more businesses build in town, we'll be prepared to take the waste," he said.
At the other end of the process, the "cake" storage house has been replaced with a larger containment warehouse, a steel framework covered with white, reinforced vinyl fabric and a concrete floor.
Instead of being trucked, the cake, also called biosolids or sludge, will be conveyed on a belt from the new centrifuge to the cake house. There it will be further dried and stored until it can be spread as fertilizer on soil.
The warehouse can hold up to a year's worth of semi-dry cake. The centrifuge is replacing the belt press, which will remain in line as a backup.
During the next year, as building comes to an end, upgrading of the equipment for the treatment process will take center stage, said Simpson. The vehicles of the two departments will eventually gather in the massive garage, as access becomes easier. And employees will share a parking lot, cleaner and nearer the front door, instead of the street.