VALDOSTA – Residents were able to watch the Valdosta City Council from their homes Tuesday.

City Council held a special called meeting Tuesday afternoon at City Hall to consider a bid for a secondary equalization basin at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant for $1.789 million to be completed by Reynolds Construction. 

Council voted in favor of the bid, coming in less than the $2.1 million budgeted for the project.

Council members Eric Howard, Andy Gibbs, Ben Norton and Tim Carroll joined Mayor Scott James Matheson in person for the meeting. All five members maintained space between each other to adhere to social distancing recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control.

What is a basin?

“They’re basically holding tanks we have out there for heavy rain events,” said Mark Barber, Valdosta city manager.

The move for another storage basin occurred after 16 inches of rain in December 2018 overflowed the 33 million gallon storage and caused a series of sewage discharges.

When heavy rains fall, stormwater flows through the sewer system and is stored in these basins. Once the storm passes, the water is pumped back into the disinfecting area of the water treatment facility, Barber said. 

Valdosta also experienced a 7.5-million gallon sewage spill in December 2019 due to an outside contractor failing to reconnect a sensor in the treatment plant.

The new basin will add 7.2 million gallons of capacity to the available 33 million gallon stores, he said.

Originally planned to be a 10 million gallon reservoir, the water table only allowed employees to dig deep enough for 7.2 million gallons, Barber said.

“We do feel comfortable that the 7.2 million gallons – the supplemental holding area – will be sufficient as well,” he said.

The normal flow from the Withlacoochee River through the treatment plant is 3 million to 4 million gallons daily, Barber said.

The city manager said the city has improved inflow with storm drains about 25% to help curtail leaks and another spill.

“So you’ve got less spill water and more capacity, you’re really heading in the right direction with stopping the kinds of spills at the plant itself,” Barber said.