By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor The Warren County Commission will have a sewer grinder installed to keep large items from entering into the Warrenton sewer system. On Tuesday, commissioners voted 3-0 to award a bid for a sewer grinder to Ressler and Associates. The Ballwin-based company submitted a bid for $24,948, the lowest of three received. Two other bids were received from JWC Environmental, of Costa Mesa, Calif., for $27,648 and Peterson and Matz, of Elgin, Ill., for $27,798. The county had budgeted $30,000 for the expenditure, according to commissioners. Commissioners had delayed installing the sewer grinder in early 2012, the same time a bar screen system was installed to catch clothes, trash and other items flushed by inmates at the county jail before they entered the city’s sewer system. However, the pretreatment project was designed to allow a grinder to be installed in the future. The grinder was the city’s preferred pretreatment system. Commissioners said they expect the grinder to be installed within six weeks. This will eliminate the need for a county maintenance employee to remove items on a daily basis. “We were hoping to see what the screen could catch,” Presiding Commissioner Arden Engelage said. “It seems like we can’t get a handle of what the inmates are flushing.” Some of the items that are routinely flushed by inmates and found in the screen are socks, rags, underwear and food packages, county officials said. A dispute between the city and county began in February 2011 when city workers discovered a jail jumpsuit and other garbage had clogged the city’s sewer main. The city requested the sewer pretreatment improvements since every manhole overflow must be reported as a violation to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. City officials were worried that similar blockages would cause damage to the sewer system. Under city codes, it’s unlawful for any type of garbage to be discharged into the city’s sewer main.
County to proceed with installing sewer grinder
