Candice S. Miller, Mike Gregg and Jim Nash at the Northeast Sewage Pumping Station tour in Detroit.
(Photo courtesy of Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash)
Recently, members of the Oakland-Macomb Interceptor Drain Board toured the Northeast Sewage Pumping Station in Detroit for a first-hand look at the improvements completed over the last year.
Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash and Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller were joined by the Board’s chairman, Mike Gregg. Representing the State, Gregg is the water resources program manager of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The pump station provides sewer service for approximately 830,000 residents in Oakland and Macomb counties. Upgrades to this important regional facility are approaching $100 million in projects costs. These improvements are critical to protecting local waterways while ensuring reliable sewer service.
“It’s one thing to be able to hear about the recent improvements and restorations taking place at the facility, but when you’re able to visit the site firsthand, it really puts it all into perspective,” said Nash. “The engineers and construction crews overseeing the project have worked incredibly hard to bring this facility up to speed. I’m so proud of their ability to rehabilitate this facility without interrupting sewer service for Oakland and Macomb County residents.”
Joel Brown, one of Oakland County’s chief engineers, led the tour with a look into an underground chamber some 90 feet below the surface. He explained that’s where sewage enters the pump station where screens trap debris to prevent damage to the pumps.
“We must invest in our infrastructure to prevent catastrophes from occurring,” Miller said. “The station needed major repairs and upgrades and this work will serve future generations to come. We are being very proactive.”
The tour continued with a stop at the new bio-trickling filter system—specialized equipment designed to control odors and prevent sensitive electrical components inside the station from corroding.
Board members also viewed a stormwater retention basin and an open field that could serve as the future site for solar panels to power the facility.
Gregg was especially taken with the tour noting, “the tour demonstrated what a truly remarkable and badly needed project this is. The scale and complexity of this critical infrastructure is amazing. To essentially reconstruct and upgrade every major component while maintaining sewage flow from more than 830,000 people is a credit to our great team.
“This pump station is part of the most exceptional and largest application of the Michigan Drain Code,” he said. Among other things, the drain code codifies laws relating to the establishment and consolidation of drainage districts which are used to facilitate stormwater and sewer infrastructure improvements. Gregg added that the cooperation and resolve of Commissioners Nash and Miller to undertake this project “is a testament to the dedication to their constituents that will save ratepayers millions of dollars.”
Finally, the group watched as five giant motors, cranking out as much as 2,000 horsepower apiece, pumped and lifted sewage from six stories below the surface for discharge to a piping system that transports it to the Great Lake Water Authority’s water resource recovery facility in southwest Detroit where it is treated.
Oakland and Macomb counties have partnered with Walsh Construction Co, Metco Services, ASI Consulting Group, NTH Consultants Ltd., and FK Engineering on theses upgrades.
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