Lewes BPW borrows money to upgrade wastewater treatment plant

The Lewes Board of Public Works is planning to borrow $1.75 million to perform upgrades to the Howard Seymour Water Reclamation Plant on American Legion Road.

BPW General Manager Austin Calaman says the funds will be used to upgrade and replace several components at the plant. Work will include upgrades to the grit-removal system, rebuilds of 5 mm and 2 mm screens, new compactors for both screens, electrical upgrades and other work. An additional 2 mm screen will be added for redundancy, Calaman said.

“The loan will also include some pump station work, more specifically at our larger, more regional stations,” he said, noting that work will include electrical analysis and upgrades, and bypass valving.

The upgrades were proposed by wastewater treatment plant operator Inframark with consultation from the BPW’s engineering firm George, Miles & Buhr and consulting engineering firm GHD, which was hired in October to conduct a study of the BPW’s plant and pump stations.

“These upgrades were brought to our attention from Inframark, and both GMB and GHD provided recommendations for replacement, overhaul and redundancy of major components for both the headworks and our major pump stations,” Calaman said. “These upgrades will help reduce the ragging of the membranes and also help with redundancy when failures do occur.”

The 20-year, 2 percent loan is provided through the Delaware Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund. It still requires approval from Lewes Mayor and City Council before it can be finalized. 

Calaman said the loan application had no opposition from the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council.

“It was kind of confirmed that a lot of other municipalities are battling the same thing when it comes to headworks issues, when it comes to ragging and so forth,” he said.

At its Jan. 26 meeting, the BPW also authorized the purchase of a bypass pump and dewatering dumpster for $63,000 and $11,000, respectively. Those items are not included in the loan, but will also be used to increase efficiency and redundancy at the plant.

The BPW is currently renting both items, and by purchasing them, Calaman says, monthly expenses can be reduced.

The BPW’s action comes a couple months after a lift station malfunction resulted in untreated wastewater spilling into the Lewes-Rehoboth Canal. The issue was traced back to problems with the lift station at the canal drawbridge on Savannah Road, which pumps all wastewater from the town side of the canal to the wastewater treatment plant on American Legion Road. During the investigation, it was determined the issues were caused by a clog, likely from unflushable items being flushed down the toilet, a common problem nationwide.

The BPW had a major malfunction at the wastewater treatment plant in December 2019, resulting in 3.9 million gallons of partially treated wastewater being discharged into the marsh adjacent to the plant over several days. The BPW was fined $64,000 by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, which was paid by then-operator White Marsh Environmental Services. Several upgrades to the plant occurred in the months after that incident, including replacement of filters at the plant for about $1 million in total. Other major work included upgrades to all control systems, alarm systems and printouts.