The sewer bill will be going up for Butler area residents this Friday and the money raised with that increase is going to several projects.
Sewers in Butler have been around since the 1890s and the Butler Area Sewer Authority has had their Wastewater Treatment Plant Facility off Litman Road for nearly as long.
The last major addition and renovation took place in 1980 and several pieces of important equipment from that era have far exceeded their useful life.
“A lot of these machines are on a wing and a prayer,” M. John Schon, Operations Director, says.
Schon says over $3 million worth of improvements are needed at the plant’s Headworks area, near where wastewater first enters the facility.
An additional nearly $4 million will be spent to modernize operations further along in the waste treatment process in the Solids Handling area. These improvements will save a large amount of time and effort but there are no plans to lay off any employees, according to Schon.
BASA officials had vendors into their facility and traveled to Ocean City, Maryland earlier this year to observe the equipment they will be installing. With these long overdue improvements, BASA will be able to continue to serve the Butler community for decades to come.
Even with the $3 per month sewage rate increase, Butler Area Sewer Authority bills are in the lower half of a recent comparison of charges in 19 other municipalities in the Butler County area.
Written By: Ryan Saeler
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