Lagoon System ImproVEMENTs
halliday, North Dakota
Acting as the City Engineer, Interstate Engineering was asked to check the capacity of the system and assist with applications for available funding.
The City of Halliday was concerned that their sewage lagoon system might not be holding the sewage as it should for proper treatment of the waste. The city has a 3-cell system, and in years past the primary and secondary cells would operate at a standard 4-foot to 5-foot depth. The third cell was seldom utilized.
Approximately four years ago the city had some of the sludge removed from the bottoms of cells 1 and 2, using cell 3 to hold the wastewater. Upon returning to normal operations, Cells 1 and 2 would no longer fill as before, making it appear there had been some damage done to the liners in those cells. The city was operating with the primary cell completely dry and the wastewater placed directly into the second cell. Even with the use of only the one cell, low water levels contributed to considerable odors in town if the winds were from the southeast.
Acting as the City Engineer, Interstate Engineering was asked to study the problem further, check the capacity of the system and assist with applications for available funding. Even though no outside funding was available, the project proceeded, and plans were prepared to clean Cells 1 and 2 and place a 12-inch clay liner in those cells. The material removed was wasted, along with the edge, inside the third cell. Riprap was placed on the east and south dikes of the cells to protect against wave action from prevailing winds.
The successful bidder on the project was Martin Construction of Gladstone, ND. The work on the project progressed well despite some slightly adverse weather conditions in the fall of 2009.
