Small Town News

New lift station becomes operational

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Project has been nominated tor a state award, says Rensink

BOYDEN -- If only the new lift station was operational before the flood.

Regardless of such lament, the new lift station was operational as of last Thursday and that's a major step forward.

"Well, we will have more pumping capacity, " said Boyden street-water-sewer superintendent Cody Rensink. "We will have less likelihood of sewer back-ups in town. We have modern controls, and it should operate more trouble-free."

The new lift station is also more energy efficient, Rensink explained.

"Our utility cost on the lift station will go down 33 to 50 percent per month, he said.

The lift station is drawing rave reviews.

The station is up for the 2010 Performance and Innovation in the SRF Creating Environmental Success (PISCES) Award, which was created five years ago to recognize positives in the state's Clean Water Revolving Fund (CWSRF) programs.

Projects financed under the CWSRF, such as the new Boyden lift station, support the Clean Water Act by protecting health and water quality.

The Boyden lift station project has been lauded for its planning, management and financing.

The federal government passed the Clean Water Act during the 1970s as a means to eliminate water pollution, including toxic substances.

There are two projects up for the award this year and Boyden will find out if it wins this November.

During the past couple of weeks, the housing for the lift station was completely torn down and a manhole was constructed, diverting material from the old to the new lift station. Crews also wrapped up work on electrical wiring.

"The new lift station is larger, safer to maintain and will allow us to handle potential future industrial and commercial growth, " Rensink said.

So, what exactly is a lift station?

A lift station is designed to handle raw sewage that is fed from underground gravity pipelines -- laid at an angle so that liquid can flow in one direction. The material is fed and stored in an underground pit.

The new concrete pit is 10x10 feet and the pump capacity will pump more than 500.000 gallons of wastewater per day.

Piping from the lift station to the lagoon has been changed as well, from 6-inch iron pipes to 8-inch pipes made from polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Rensink estimated about 1, 800 feet of PVC pipe (roughly one-third of one mile) was put down between the lift station and the lagoon.

The lift station was built with money from many sources: a Community Block Development Grant (CDBG), an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant and from the state revolving fund.

The city's share of the cost will roughly be 31.4 percent, or about $85, 000 of $270, 000. Boyden received ARRA money for using "green" products during assembly of the new station.

Construction on the new lift station began in early spring, with completion of a force main. The new cement structure was assembled in late spring.

Then pipes, meters, valves and pump controls were constructed.

The new lift station could have ameliorated problems that occurred during flooding on July 30.

"With all that rain, we had so much water and we couldn't pump it away fast enough, " Rensink said. "This new lift station will reduce the chances of that happening."

Power will automatically transfer to the generator during an emergency situations such as an outage.

The city was mandated to build a new lift station to become compliant with Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) regulations.

The original Boyden lift station was built in 1962. The last major upgrade at the facility took place in 1981 when new pumps were added.

GCC Alliance Concrete, Inc. of Sioux Center was the general contractor on the project.



Copyright 2010 Sioux County Index-Reporter, Hull, Iowa. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2011 Sioux County Index-Reporter Hull, Iowa. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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