Upgrades to the wastewater lagoons in Riverside are nearly complete. Riverside Town Councilman Leroy Stephenson shuts off the aerators at a switch near the end of the newly installed roadbed.
Improvements to the town of Riverside's wastewater system are nearly complete.
Recent upgrades have been made to the wastewater treatment and settling ponds. The ponds have had roadbed material laid down around their perimeters, electrical upgrades and the replacement of the chlorine treatment process with a UV treatment system.
The only remaining improvement will be the addition of a backup electric generator.
The town has already had the sewer pipes mapped and scoped to identify blockages and places where groundwater has been infiltrating the system.
Leroy Stephenson, Riverside Town Councilman, noted groundwater infiltration was a big problem in the past, and meant the wastewater settling ponds had to be discharged more often. After the mapping process, a company came in and sealed all of the cracks, largely eliminating groundwater infiltration.
Because of groundwater infiltration and larger volumes of sewage, "Some places, including Encampment, have to discharge almost continuously," Stephenson said.
More discharge events leads to more reporting to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ); which is less efficient.
Water from Riverside's sewage treatment facility discharges into Badger Creek which then flows into the Encampment River.
Several times per year, samples of treated water are sent to Laramie and tested for a host of items that must meet DEQ standards. These include water clarity, chlorine levels, chlorofecal count, pH, amount of suspended solids and amount of ammonia.
Before the installation of the UV treatment system, the town used to have problems meeting DEQ parameters for chlorine levels in the discharged water. Now, when water leaves the UV system, it is nearly potable according to Stephenson.
Encampment uses a larger version of the same UV equipment, and Riverside installed theirs more than four years ago.
In addition to mapping, the sewer pipes, Riverside had the treatment lagoons surveyed to see if there is a problem with sediment accumulation.
As it turns out, there is no issue with sediment buildup, which indicates the microbes used to breakdown the sewage effluent are doing their job.
In a testament to how well the lagoons are working, there is no perceptible smell of raw sewage in the air near the ponds.
Riverside uses microbes, which are stimulated by oxygen introduced by aerators, to breakdown the sewage pumped into the two lagoons. An ultrasonic system keeps algae from forming colonies or blooms, by breaking it down with sound waves.
Once per year, the town has to clear vegetation and brush from around the lagoons. The new roadbed material will make it easier to maintain vegetation around the ponds and makes access easier because it does not get as muddy.
The town is also benefiting from moving an irrigation ditch on the north side of the ponds, which makes it easier to use a brush hog for vegetation removal.
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