The Talkeetna sewer lagoon has tested in compliance with its state permit for the month of September.
According to testing documents, the effluent sample taken on September 26th tested well within requirements for fecal coliform bacteria, with colony forming units totaling one quarter of the maximum allowed number.
For the last few years, Talkeetna’s sewer lagoon has frequently tested out of compliance with its permit, including multiple tests this summer. As a result, the Mat-Su Borough has met multiple times with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The meetings are to determine what corrective steps may be necessary and what level of fine may be levied against the system.
The Mat-Su Borough Public Works Department is taking a number of steps to try to bring the system consistently into compliance. That includes artificial aeration, skimming grease and oil off the top of the lagoon’s cells, replanting vegetation, and reducing the infiltration of groundwater into the sewer pipes.
Since many pipes are below the natural water table, pressure from outside causes extra water to flow into the system. That water then flows into the lagoon, reducing the amount of treatment time for wastewater. Mike Drover, who operates the system for the borough, says finding and eliminating points where groundwater is flowing into the system has reduced the load on the lagoons by about half.
The nature of Talkeetna’s sewer lagoon is to operate with few moving parts and allow natural processes to remove potentially harmful elements of wastewater before discharging it into the Talkeetna River. As a result, optimal treatment time is more than eight months. Because of that, it takes time to see whether a given corrective step has had an impact on wastewater treatment.
Earlier this month, voters living in the Talkeetna Sewer and Water District voted to institute a three-percent sales tax within the district’s boundaries. Funds raised through that tax are to be used for the operation of the system, which currently runs at a deficit, and for future maintenance and capital needs.
