Collection tank newest solution for jail sewer issues
A big concern for Cedartown city officials is getting closer to a solution that will help bring an end to blockage issues in the sewer system coming from the Polk County Jail.
For the past several years, sewer workers within the City of Cedartown have collected a variety of jail-issue items that have caused sewer blockages or ended up in filter screens at the plant off Girard Avenue.
Assistant County Manager Barry Atkison said the new plan includes creation of what is essentially a large septic tank to trap solids and floating trash items that are being dumped into the sewer system and previously causing problems.
The 3,000 gallon tank is going to be placed downstream of the jail slightly, but close enough to still allow wastewater to pass through onward into Cedartown’s sewer system without issue.
It will require that Polk County pump out the tank on a regular basis and clean out screen filters being put in place to trap items like potato chip bags and toothbrushes, but cost significantly less than the initial idea of installing a grinding system.
Even a 3,000 gallon tank installed on the jail property would only cost somewhere around $8,000, much less than upwards of a $100,000 price tag proposed in year’s past for a grinder system attached to the sewer line heading out of the jail.
Back in 2016, the county’s Public Safety Committee met with city officials to discuss the problem, and it sat without resolution after an initial study done in 2013.
City Manager Bill Fann expressed his concerns most recently during the City Commission’s August session in his manager’s report, when he told of how recent blockages in the sewer system were caused by debris coming from the Polk County Jail.
Fann did add he was happy to see that a resolution is finally being found to fix the issue.