- A wastewater treatment plant in Allentown is experiencing issues
- A buildup of solid waste has caused a stink to spill over into the city
- It could take two weeks to fix
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An “operational issue” at a city wastewater treatment plant has caused a stink.
“[Lehigh County Authority] apologizes for the unpleasant sewer odors that some residents may notice in Allentown over the next two weeks while this work is being completed,” according to a Friday news release from the agency.
“The sewer odor may be described as an ‘earthy’ or ‘rotten egg’ smell but is not harmful to human health.”
Over the past few weeks, there's been a buildup of excess solids at the Kline’s Island Wastewater Treatment Plant on Union Street, according to the release. And the smell emanating from the plant, which treats more than 30 million gallons of sewage per day from city customers and more than a dozen other surrounding communities, might get worse.
“Solids are a natural byproduct of the process for treating wastewater, in which solids and organic material are separated from the water,” officials said. “The solids are typically ‘digested’ by the biological processes at the plant, and the remaining material applied as fertilizer on farm fields or disposed of at a landfill.”
However, over the past few weeks, plant staff have “noticed a buildup of solids at the plant that has disrupted the normal treatment process, leading to some odor complaints from customers in the vicinity of the plant,” according to the release.
While the buildup of solids can be normal, a mechanical problem last month at the LCA industrial pretreatment plant in Fogelsville sent a higher-than-normal load of solids down to Allentown, officials said. Generally, the solids would be removed at the plant in Fogelsville and wouldn’t impact the plant in Allentown.
The excessively hot and humid weather may make the odor issues worse.Lehigh County Authority
At Kline’s Island, staff will “manually clean out the excess solids and improve treatment performance.” The mechanical issue at the Fogelsville plant is also being addressed.
“This work is expected to begin on Saturday and continue for about two weeks,” officials said. “During the cleanout process, LCA expects the sewer odors to be more noticeable in some locations near the plant.
“The excessively hot and humid weather may make the odor issues worse.”
More information can be found on the authority's website.
