Resident raising stink over sewage transport while new line goes on River Chase Drive

Phenix City crews are hauling raw sewage from the Rock Island Ridges development to a manhole cover on Airport Road while work is underway to increase the sewer pipe from an 8- to 12-inch line.

Stephen Smith, assistant city manager and director of utilities for Phenix City, said work along River Chase Drive has been ongoing for about a year and a half but should be completed in about a week. A resident who claims the proper line wasn’t installed during the development is falsely raising a stink over the project, he said.

There is nothing uncommon about the sewer work in the area. “We are putting in a new sewer pipe up there and while we’re doing some work on it, we are sending our sewage truck up there to keep the lift station down,” Smith said. “It sucks it up in the truck, carries it down the road and puts it in a gravity station that it eventually will be pumped to.”

Along with the bigger sewer line, Smith said the city also is getting the manhole cover widened to 4 feet in diameter from 3 feet to service a pressure valve in the new sewer system.

“Some of those guys we have out there working are big guys,” he said. “It’s an awful tight fit. It will be safer if we widen the entrance to make it easier for guys to get in and out because of where the valve is placed.”

Trips to the area vary with the amount of sewage from the development. The city sends a vactor truck that holds up to 2,000 gallons of sewage.

“It varies from day to day,” Smith said. “If we use the big truck, we make one or two hauls. If we use the small truck, it might take a few more. It just depends on how much is coming out of the apartments at any one time.”

The distance from the lift station near the development, the traffic light on River Chase and to the manhole on Airport Road is less than a mile away. Smith said the city is not only trying to serve apartments but increase flow capacity to serve the entire area.

“We are getting a lot of growth up there,” he said. “This is the third big apartment complex that’s been built on River Chase Drive,” he said.

When all the city’s work is completed, Smith said, it may cost about $250,000 for improvements while the developer may spend twice that much. The lift station for the sewer line goes up to the property line of the development before the city takes the line beneath Highway 80 and on to Airport Road.

“It’s such a short distant from the new traffic light underneath the highway and bypassing work there so we can finish the work on the line,” he said. “We will have it reconnected here very shortly.”

Residents shouldn’t be concerned about the work bypassing the sewer line to get work completed, he said. “It will last into the foreseeable future, certainly through my life time,” Smith said of the increased capacity.

Anyone who has been to the area can see the changes over the last three years. There is some talk about possibly building 250 residential homes over the next five to 10 years, Smith said.

If you’ve seen something that needs attention, give me a call.

This story was originally published May 21, 2018 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Resident raising stink over sewage transport while new line goes on River Chase Drive."