EATON — According to Public Works Superintendent Chris Denlinger, the construction project at the waste water treatment plant is proving to be a success thus far. He presented his report during the Monday, Aug. 21, council meeting.

“The fine screen project is complete. It went online in the middle of May and the project went very well. The performance of this equipment exceeded our expectations. We’re removing two to three times the amount of debris than before. This will help us run the rest of the pumps through the treatment process. We are very happy,” he said.

“The clarifier project is mostly complete with only a couple of small details to finish,” he added. “The first clarifier went online in the middle of June, the second one in July.”

He added, other projects at the waste water plant include replacing valves, pups and motors, and electrical panels as needed. There are 220 valves, but according to Denlinger, only 50 are updated on a regular basis. Some of the valves are deep in the ground, making the process a challenge. He said that a lot of the equipment is aged and is being replaced as needed.

There is also a well cleaning program, which is being used at the Black Water Plant.

Water production numbers for both plants combined have remained steady from 2013-2017, Denlinger reported.

“We’ve started replacing old water meters and installing a radio in 2012 and we finished this project in 2017,” Denlinger added. “The read time before the upgrade was 120 man hours per month, after the upgrade has been cut down to 12 man hours per month.”

During the meeting, council approved a resolution allowing the Public Works Division to purchase a new New Holland C-232 skid loader, from Steinke Tractor Sales. This skid loader will be replacing the existing 2009 Case skid loader and was budgeted for. The net purchase amount is $28,960.