City of Albany to modernize all 108 sewer lift stations

Albany City Commissioners have approved funds to send City Manager Sharon Subadan to  Atlanta Thursday, to meet with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division about recent sewer spills.

Subadan has to face EPD officials about violations of Georgia rules and regulations for water quality control. Assistant City Manager Phil Roberson presented an update to the commission about plans to modernize the sewer lift stations, saying the city is already on top of this project, and that upgrades are underway.

Currently, all lift stations are functioning, and the city has made improvements to their response times and procedures to deal with spills and emergencies.

They have added a third shift of employees in public works to continue monitoring the lift stations at night, and have issued laptop computers to city employees to keep watch on the sewer system.

So how are they going to fund this project? Roberson said they have already made half a million dollars in improvements to three lift stations, and they have a financial plan set in place.

"It's not an issue of financing, it's just going to be an issue of how quickly we get the work done. But it's all hands on deck, it's everybody's working 24 - 7. We've got people patrolling the river, staff, along with Jacobs [the contractor that operates the system] at night looking at the stations," said Roberson.

Another long-term goal for the city is to combat the 'CSO' or Combined Sewer Overflow issue, figuring out how to separate stormwater runoff and sewage water to prevent spills in the future.