City of Lake Wales Approves Wastewater Force Main Cleanings for Eagle Ridge and Southside
by James Coulter
The force mains near Eagle Ridge Mall and Southside will be cleaned now that city commissioners have approved expending funds for their cleaning.
At their regular meeting on Tues. Jan. 20, Lake Wales city commissioners voted unanimously to approve their consent agenda, which included two items on force main cleaning.
The first item approves spending $87,865.32 on cleaning the force main near Eagle Ridge Mall (including the areas near Chalet Suzanne, Dinner Lake, Lake Ashton, and Harding Avenue), while the second item approves spending $51,399.60 on cleaning the force main near Southside.
Both mains require cleaning “due to the distance [these lines] must travel to reach the wastewater treatment plant and the low flow conditions that exist during non-peak hours,” wrote Holly Britt, Utilities Operations Manager.
“Sediment such as sand, plastics, and paper tend to settle to the bottom of the pipe due to the low velocities of the liquid pushing the sediment,” Britt further elucidated.
Both force main cleaning will be conducted through the progressive poly pig procedure. These services will be provided by Professional Piping Services (PPS), which has performed cleanings in previous years, and through which the city entered into a piggyback agreement on the Manatee County Annual contract.
Both cleanings will be funded through the $225,000 budgeted in the Wastewater Division’s M & R Lines and Mains operating budget for this fiscal year.
