The west end of Chase has recently been engulfed in an unfortunate smell.
The smell is stemming from one of the village’s sewer lagoons.
Joni Heinrich, chief administrative officer for the Village of Chase, said that generally every spring the lagoons produce some odour as bacteria comes back to life to do its job of eating materials in the lagoon.
“This year the odour has been going on a bit longer than in past years, and is a bit stronger depending on where one lives in relation to the lagoon,” said Heinrich.
She said the smell generally lasts for a couple of weeks, but this year it’s been on and off for over four weeks.
Chase’s public works staff have been working to add an enzymatic product into the lagoon, in order to increase the amount of oxygen and increase the bacteria content, which will speed up the break-down process and decrease the smell.
“The use of the enzymatic product as well as getting more oxygen into the lagoons does speed up the eating of the materials and does lessen the amount of odour for sure,” said Heinrich.
Crews who work on the lagoons are also no stranger to finding things that have gone into the system that shouldn’t have, such as rags, kid’s toys and sheets.
Heinrich said, although an effective sewer treatment system, the sewer lagoons will need upgrades in the near future as they have been in place for over 20 years – upgrades would help lessen the smell.
Chase council has been considering upgrades and village staff have begun looking into grants to cover the cost, which will be near $1 million.