BEATRICE – A sewer bypass project in north Beatrice should provide some protection for homeowners in that area of the city, against backup problems.
City Engineer James Burroughs who also serves as the city’s Wastewater Superintendent…says the bypass is designed to separate flow from the Gage County Industrial Park from nearby residential areas.


"Because right now, most of the industrial park kind of collects at Shugart Street and Prairie Avenue...and it comes down Prairie Avenue. There's also residences along there that dump into that same sanitary sewer system. Two components of that....we've seen some capacity issues there that we want to rectify, but two...lets say there was...not that there is, but if there were any chemical spills that would come down that line, we didn't want that to affect those residents... or if a sewer would collapse in that residential area....to affect the industrial park area."


The bypass will be installed west of Prairie Avenue…avoiding the residential neighborhood system before it connects with a sewer lift station next to the Indian Creek bridge on Second Street. Burroughs says the bypass will also help set up the city for future industrial growth by improving sewer capacity in that area.
The new bypass line will use 12-inch, 10-inch and 8-inch diameter lines. The project will also be able to connect, if needed, with a new 80-acre tract of property the city will be purchasing, in the north part of the industrial park.


Meanwhile, the City of Beatrice continues to seek approval of a new five-year operating permit for the wastewater treatment plant...required because of the discharge of treated water into the Big Blue River.


Burroughs says a draft permit has been issued and is currently going through a public comment period.  "We're hoping to get the final permit by July 1st of this year. So far, the permit has not changed much, which is good for us and it's good for the City of Beatrice in terms of dollars that need to be spent. We're going to keep the plant that we have now and make sure it keeps in good working order. But, we should be able to meet those permit limits."


Through some phased-in improvements that have been made at the wastewater plant…..approval of a new five-year permit would mean the city wouldn’t face the prospect of building an entirely new plant.

Equipment at wastewater treatment plant
Equipment at wastewater treatment plant  

 
"Which has significant dollars associated with it...anywhere from ten to fifteen million dollars if we had to upgrade our plant to meet new limits."
Burroughs says the phased-in work approved by the Beatrice Board of Public Works and the city council has enabled the wastewater department to modernize treatment equipment to current standards.