Lagoon Project
Since 2019, Haviland has been required by…
Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) to make changes to our current wastewater lagoons in or to keep our wastewater permit. We were under contract with an engineer to have a project done, as many of you know, but the cost was staggering and getting worse by the day. This has caused our sewer rates to rise significantly over the last few years. This was also a requirement from KDHE in order to obtain funding for the project, weather it be by grant or loan.
With the help of Kansas Municipal Utilities (KMU) and Kansas Rural Water Association (KRWA), we were able to meet with KDHE staff to seek alternative avenues to accomplish the same goal-to get back into compliance with our permit discharge values. We have been working with a different engineer to meet these goals and we are in the process of evaluating what needs to be done and how we will do it. We will post updates as soon as they come available.
Currently, we have installed a couple fixtures in our lagoons. Many of you have probably already seen these floating in the center of each lagoon. These are solar powered mixers that stir the waters to achieve many important goals and over the last 10 months, they have had some dramatic effects!
Please don’t get discouraged with rising rates, they are for the benefit of the entire City, not the staff or Council. We would also like to remind everyone not to flush items down the drain or toilets. Wipes of any kind are not to be flushed, including wipes that say they are flushable! These do not dissolve like toilet paper and cause sewer backups and clog pumps, causing damage and costly repairs! Thank you for your cooperation!!