Update:  Louis B. Hazelton Memorial Cemetery now open following repair of storm related damage. 

Buckeye Employee’s Ingenuity Leads to Increased Operational Efficiency at Sundance Water Treatment Plant, Annual Savings of $100,000

A Town of Buckeye employee’s creative plan to reduce sludge at the Sundance Water Treatment Plant while maintaining water treatment goals has resulted in an estimated annual savings of $100,000.

And because of the operational adjustments suggested by Rick Harrell, a utility maintenance worker who assumed operational responsibilities for the plant in April 2008, the town has not had to install a $1.5 million sludge press and disposal unit.

When Harrell took over the plant’s operation, a sludge that resulted from the removal of arsenic from the water from Sundance’s five wells had to be disposed of in a local landfill.

Six months later, Harrell, with support from Arnold Coronado, a town water production supervisor, as well as a local water filtration vendor, presented his plan to Damon Dequenne, director of water resources.

Over a period of the next six months, a methodical series of adjustments eventually reached an acceptable balance between sludge production and arsenic removal.  The sludge was then allowed back into the local sewer system at an acceptable volume.

Harrell said support of his supervisors and managers empowered him to “try something, to not be afraid to challenge the system.

“We continued to move forward with additional changes to filtering times, backwash times, reclaims per tank and ferric sulfate feed rates,” Harrell said.  “The changes to the system have been nothing short of fantastic.”

Dequenne applauded Harrell, whose success story was featured in Water & Waste Digest, a national trade magazine.

“Rick’s ingenuity has set the bar for our employees,” Dequenne said.  “It’s a great example of taking an idea, working it through and making something work better.”