Wondering what that smell is in south Columbus?

You may get a whiff of sewage up your nose if you live in Oakland Park, but Columbus Water Works officials are trying to stay on top of a possible smelly situation in south Columbus.

During a visit to the South Columbus Water Resource Facility a week ago, I did get a whiff while walking around the plant, and officials said that’s not unusual. They also said there’s a renovation project underway on one of the facility’s six basins to control odors. The working parts on equipment take a beating in the plant, where about 25 million gallons of waste water are treated daily from Columbus and 2.5 million more from Fort Benning.

“Controlling odors, that is the key,” said John Peebles, senior vice president of Water Resource Operations at the Water Works. “We spent over $1 million probably close to $2 million at this waste water plant, but we’ve had some issues over the past year that certainly had an effect on that. We had some issues on our primary basins.”

To fix the problem in the basin, Peebles said crews have to drain the basin and put it back in service. Completing the work requires removing the covers from the basin, and that may cause odors. “When you do that, you lose containment of the odor control,” he said. “We are on our final basin now, getting back to 100 percent.”

Peebles said the work should be completed in about two weeks. The utility has spent about $200,000 to fix each of the six basins. The waste creates corrosive gases, and grit enters the sewer pipes that are already filled with unwanted rags, baby wipes and other items clogging up the equipment.

“We are still recovering,” Peebles said. “It’s just an ongoing battle to keep things in top form.”

Peebles couldn’t state whether residents will notice a difference when work is completed. “I don’t know the answer to that,” he said. “I don’t know if they notice a problem right now. All I’m suggesting is that I don’t have as good odor control as I’d like to have that I can have. Yes, when that is finished and we have that capped again, we are back. It is the best we can do as far as odor control is concerned.”

Sometimes, Peebles said he worries that something might be the source of odors, but you can’t smell it if the winds are blowing out of the north as they usually do. He noted there is a treatment plant in Phenix City, and the Water Works hauls its biosolids across the Chattahoochee River to farms in Russell County.

“They are probably smelling the Phenix City plant or those farms,” he said. “They are thinking it’s us because it’s closer. It just depends.”

Michael Burch, assistant superintendent at the South Columbus facility, said the staff can look at a computer and identify in just about real time when there is a problem in the system. Residents could help the equipment operate properly if they kept baby wipes, make-up pads, cigarettes, cotton balls, paper towels, diapers and dental floss out of the toilet.

They also see some items more frequently than others. “They do practice safe sex in Columbus,” he said. “We do see condoms and (Atlanta) Falcons jerseys when they lose.”

It takes less than 24 hours for the waste to cycle through the treatment system before treated water is returned to the Chattahoochee River. It’s safe, but you can’t drink the water, Burch said.

Peebles said the treatment plant is as old as the neighborhood, but they are always working to reduce odors. “We want to be good citizens,” he said.

If you see something that needs attention, give me a call at 706-571-8576.

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Wondering what that smell is in south Columbus?."