Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Nashvile*

Life on the north end became vile yesterday and today as an increasingly foul smell from the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant on 2nd Ave. blanketed the area. There were moments standing outside when the odor was so thick that my eyes started to water.

Reportedly, over two years ago Metro Water Services started a focus group here designed to solve the spread of the stench of water treatment. Their intention was to spare residents of Germantown, East Germantown, and Salemtown the nausea. The past two days indicate that they were not too successful. We have had smelly days before now, but yesterday and today eclipsed all of the rest.

We even took a walk down to Germantown to be outside and away from the stink, but there were strong pockets of it settling there, too. Metro Water has got some 'splainin' to do if the vile aroma continues tomorrow.


*I've wanted to use Ed Cone's misspelling of "Nashville" since his presentation at "BlogNashvile," but I've been waiting for just the right moment. Thanks to Metro Water Services, it has arrived.

06/01/2005 2:00 p.m. Update: Smelly again today. Tried to access the Nashville.gov site to send a complaint e-mail, but site seems to be down.
06/02/2005 7:00 a.m. Update: I finally got through to the Central Water Treatment Plant yesterday to complain about the smell. I spoke with a supervisor there who told me that the reason for the increased odor was the Memorial Day holiday. He said that they ship the odor causing wastes out by truck on a daily basis, but on holidays the truck company contracted by Metro does not make any runs (so to speak), which in turn increases the odor in the area. The supervisor said that starting this summer and this fall, more aggressive odor controlling processes--which are the result of the earlier-mentioned focus group's work--are scheduled to be initiated. One process involves sealing tanks, skimming the odor-laden air off, and scrubbing the air with biological agents that remove the odor before releasing it. Making the structural changes for that will take about a year. The other process involves treating the odor directly with biological agents that consume noxious smells themselves. He said that, once operational, both of these processes will catch Metro water treatment up to where other communities are; apparently, we are technologically behind in our treatment of waste water.

1 comment:

  1. I used to live in the riverfront apartments and I know exactly what you're talking about. the smell is beyond words. And it happened that my then wife was pregnant and having morning sickness besides having to smell that sh-t first thing in the morning. Have you talking to some councilpeople?

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