Dolgeville’s wastewater treatment plant’s digester needs an emergency cleaning, and the project will be an expensive one.

Village officials estimate the total cost could run to $200,000 or more.

“It must be done. We have no other choice but to bond for it,” said Dolgeville Mayor Mary Puznowski. “It’s imperative that we get it done as soon as possible.”

There are very few firms that do the specialized work needed, she said. The village is dealing with the problem on an emergency basis in order to bring in a contractor as soon as possible rather than go through the normal bidding process, which would delay the repairs.

The digester is a critical piece of equipment at the plant on Van Buren Street, according to village Engineer Chet Szymanski.  It breaks down organic waste and produces wastewater digester gas, which can be used as an energy source.

The problem with the equipment occurred about two weeks ago, Wastewater Treatment Plant Chief Operator Amy Mowers said Monday. Mowers contacted Blue Heron Company, from the Syracuse/Rochester area and informed the village board of the issue at a special meeting early this month.

Blue Heron Company’s description of the project called for the use of a mobile belt dewatering machine, submersible pump and other equipment to extract the sludge for dewatering using the belt press.

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The company estimated the project could take about a month. Blue Heron estimated the digester had about 450 wet tons of material and the company would require 350,000 to 45,000 gallons of water during the dewatering process. The $145,905 cost estimate did not include transportation and disposal of the sludge.

“It happens,” Mowers said of the issue with the digester.

The plant handles all of the village’s wastewater and over time, problems can occur.

The plant was built in the late 1960s, said Szymanski, and there had been no significant upgrades to the digester. The village did have to deal with a similar problem 10 or 15 years ago, he added.

“There was a hair ball about 11 feet in diameter,” he said.

Until the contractors get a look at the digester, they won’t know what the problem is this time or if additional repairs are needed, he said.

Mowers said once the digester is cleaned it would be a good time to check to see if there are pipes that need to be replaced and that would be an additional cost.

The sludge that would normally be handled here has to be hauled away to another treatment facility twice a week at a cost of about $3,000 a week, according to Szymanski.

He said the wastewater treatment plant was built in the late 1960s and there had been no significant upgrades to the digester.

Before the plant can be fully operational again, sludge from another plant will have to be trucked in to seed the digester so that it has the proper bacteria to work, according to Mowers.

Donna Thompson is the government and business reporter for the Times Telegram. For unlimited access to her stories, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. Email her at donna@timestelegram.com.