VALDOSTA — To fight sewer spills, the city utilities department is placing 10 generators at lift stations around the city.

The generators will help ensure the city has fewer power outages that can sometimes lead to sewer spills, according to city officials. All 10 generators will be installed before the upcoming hurricane season. The most recent one was installed at the pump station at Hyde Park.

Having generators at the pump stations is an effort from the city utilities department to be proactive instead of reactive during storms or power outage events, said Thomas Hess, central maintenance superintendent.

A short-term goal is to have no sewer spills and the generators will help, city officials said. 

“I’ve been with the city for nine years, and since I’ve been here, we’ve been working on plans for major improvements. This has been a goal of mine since I manage the pump stations, but the city is going all out to manage the sewer spills. It’s a non-stop process,” Hess said. “It’s a huge step forward in reliability and safety for the citizens of Valdosta.”

The new generators are designed to take the place of utility power. It will automatically turn on and run as long as it is needed. 

In the event of a power outage that occurs for more than an hour, a lift station would lose pumping capabilities, which could ultimately lead to a sewer spill. 

The generators can run normal pump usage for up to three or four days on one tank of fuel. The utilities department has the capability of refueling in-house to cut down on time spent having to wait on fuel, the city states.

These generators were built locally at Powerhouse Diesel Generators and can run for 30 years without needing major maintenance. 

“It is standard equipment and state-of-the-art digital controls that we can actually work on,” Hess said. “They’re not locked down so we don’t need a manufacturer to come out and troubleshoot it for us. If we do need help, Powerhouse is right here,”

If there is a power outage, emergency cell phones are built into the lift stations, so the pump station mechanics will be notified and the generator will come on and take the place of the power. The utilities department is also in the process of purchasing a city-wide control system so all of the mechanics will be able to check on stations via cell phone, according to the city release.

Despite millions of dollars being spent on a waste-water treatment plant, the sewage spills have continued. Earlier this month, North Florida residents met to discuss Valdosta sewage polluting their waterways.

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256