By Katie Northcott, News Director
At its meeting on Tuesday, April 21, the Manchester Finance Committee unanimously approved the emergency purchase of a clarifier drive for the city’s water & sewer department.
Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs said that the clarifier drive “blew up.”
“That’s the part that keeps us from overflowing into the Duck River and sending bad things,” Hobbs said.
According to a brochure from WesTech Engineering, a company specializing in water and wastewater treatment solutions based in Salt Lake City, Utah, “clarifier and thickener drive units provide the rotational force necessary to turn the rake arms in a circular basin. The rotating rake arms transport settled solids to the center of the tank for removal.” Clarifier drives are used in water clarifiers.
Multiple sources cite water clarifiers as a workhorse in wastewater treatment that separates liquid from solid to prepare water for further purification and safe discharge.
Hobbs said that the city had already made the $94,000 purchase of a new clarifier drive due to emergency conditions. Hobbs said the committee would still need to provide approval of the purchase. The item will also require approval from the city’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
The Finance Committee approved the purchase with a vote of 3-0.
