ODD JOBS: You flush it, he finds it
Supervising a wastewater plant can have its gross moments
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| ROY SKYES PHOTO -- Gary Miller, Wentzville's wastewater superintendent, overlooks one of many treatment tanks at the city's treatment plant on Mette Road. Many residents have no idea what goes on at the plant, he says. |
"There are two things human beings will always need," he said. "One is a rest room and one is a drink of water."
Miller, superintendent of Wentzville's Wastewater Treatment Plant, would know. There, he oversees just where all that water goes. He has been involved with some part of that process for the past 30 years.What possesses one to work with wastewater? Miller got into the line of work because he likes the environment. This way, he says, he makes sure "the system" is cleaned correctly and put back into a stream or on land where it's supposed to be.
Sure, there's a downside. During tours of the plant, common reactions from children are "This stinks," "Ooky gooky" or "I'm going to throw up," Miller said.
But he insists it's not so bad. In fact, he said, most people have no idea about the important things that go on.
Take the wastewater life systems, Miller said. Normally, wastewater moves through the sewer system with the help of gravity. But in hilly areas, like so many in Wentzville, sewage has to be pumped to the top of a hill before gravity takes over.
Three of Miller's employees maintain about 38 lift stations throughout Wentzville, ensuring they are operating correctly so there is no power problem, clogs or overflow. Some stations run nearly all day, and some as little as 20 minutes. Each employee is on call round-the-clock. Yet, with that responsibility comes some not-so-fun tasks, too, Miller said. Twice a year, the area that collects all the waste before it is pumped is cleaned manually - a job that takes two men about half a day to complete. If something clogs the actual pump, the men also must shut off the valves, pull the pump out of position and remove the obstruction themselves.
"It's their least favorite job, and I don't blame 'em," Miller said of the occasional responsibilities.
Another job often unknown to those outside the wastewater field is the plant's land application program, Miller said. Here, employees dispose of the final product in wastewater, which comes in two forms of fertilizer: a liquid and a solid.
The plant has a mutual agreement with local farmers to dispose of the fertilizer on their fields, Miller said; the city has purchased its own property for the program, but it's not near enough. Employees use tanker trucks to apply the product in liquid form to fields, free of charge. The product also can be made into a cake-like form, which is spread by the farmers themselves with a manure spreader, Miller said. Plant employees make and deliver the cakes.
Other areas of the wastewater plant can make a tour interesting, Miller said. There's the plant's actual treatment facility, where lab analysts take care of sampling and testing of the wastewater. There's the filter press, which de-waters the sludge and makes it into the cake, also known as a "sludge cookie," that is applied to the field. There's also the popular Muffin Monster, a machine inside the lift station that grinds up 99 percent of anything that would come at it into smaller pieces to be pumped.
"Like a full-size Barbie doll. How creative do you have to be to get that in the system?" Miller said, laughing.
But, after 30 years, when it comes to wastewater, Miller has pretty much seen it all.
"This seems normal to me," he said. "Other people are probably going, 'Whoa!'"
