From staff reports

The city’s plan to upgrade its former sewage plant – now a lift station – to lessen the odds of sewage being re-routed to Albert Lea Lake is necessary if the community is to truly improve the lake.

Wednesday, August 25, 1999

The city’s plan to upgrade its former sewage plant – now a lift station – to lessen the odds of sewage being re-routed to Albert Lea Lake is necessary if the community is to truly improve the lake.

True, the $900,000 cost – coupled with another up to $500,000 cost for a door-to-door search for illegal sump pump discharge into the septic sewer – is intimidating, particularly given that we all will pay for it on our water bills.

But really, how can the community even consider cleaning up Albert Lea Lake when several factors can lead to sewage – however diluted by rain or the lake itself – being diverted there?

These factors have included the overwhelming of lift stations by heavy rains along with illegal sump pump discharge into sewers, and mechanical problems at the former treatment plant. The former results in pumping of rain-diluted sewage into the streets, and from there to the lakes. The latter has resulted in direct re-routing of sewage into the lake from the former plant.

The door-to-door search is designed to decrease illegal discharge flow, while the $900,000 upgrade will install a second pump at the former plant for use if the current pump fails.

Of course, neither step will guarantee the same problems won’t happen again; a perfect system, if one exists for a developed city, would likely be too expensive to build here. But they are good first steps.

While dilution may limit or eliminate health risks during re-routing of sewage into Albert Lea Lake, clean-up of the lake should start by limiting the inflow of nutrient sources that encourage algae growth, deplete oxygen and maintain the lake’s less than favorable reputation.