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Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.

Oak Hill Sanitary Department representatives Zachary Harrah, left, and Steven Morefield display the Wastewater System of the Year award presented to the Oak Hill Sanitary Board at the West Virginia Rural Water Association conference.

Oak Hill Sanitary Department representatives Zachary Harrah, left, and Steven Morefield display the Wastewater System of the Year award presented to the Oak Hill Sanitary Board at the West Virginia Rural Water Association conference.

OAK HILL — Oak Hill Sanitary Board received the 2022 Wastewater System of the Year Award at Water on the Mountain, a conference hosted by the West Virginia Rural Water Association.

Like many municipally owned systems, Oak Hill has had it troubles over the year, but recent project upgrades and enhanced handling methods have assisted in eliminating those troubled areas. The operators, working closely with the city’s engineers, The Thrasher Group, and the regulatory and funding agencies have successfully turned the corner on mishaps and are looking forward to many years of almost trouble-free operations.

Oak Hill Sanitary Board received the recognition for responding to a need to rescue the Arbuckle Public Service District, a failing wastewater collection and treatment system. The city decommissioned the former Arbuckle PSD wastewater treatment plant by constructing a new pump station to transport flows to the Minden Road wastewater treatment plant. The Minden wastewater treatment plant was upgraded to treat an average daily flow of 1.3 million gallons per day and a peak flow of 2.65 million gallons per day. A 1.0-million-gallon pre-equalization basin was also constructed.

While upgrading the Minden Road wastewater treatment plant, the board also made significant repairs and replacement to the collection system and upgraded the Route 61 wastewater treatment plant to treat an average daily flow of 0.60 million gallons per day and a peak flow of 1.20 million gallons per day. The upgrade included constructing a new pretreatment system, converting equalization basins to sequencing batch reactor treatment basins and upgrading two existing sequencing batch reactor basins.

A new Asset Management Plan was developed in December 2021 and coupled with a recently acquired Geographic Information System. Day to day operations have allowed the system to operate more efficiently and provide for better customer service. The geographic information system provides support at every level and is mapping infrastructure assets, asset inspection and a work order management system.

In addition to rescuing a failing system, the board expanded the project to allow for upgrades to the city’s existing system in order to minimize and eliminate issues of non-compliance.

This accomplishment was made possible by the dedicated staff of the Oak Hill Sanitary Department that run the day-to-day operations. Including Steven Whitmore who was named Wastewater Operator of the Year in 2021.

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