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Sarasota News Leader December 13, 2013 Page 53 gallons because cracks in the city's old pipes admit groundwater into the sewage flow. The old lift station failed repeatedly, several times discharging raw sewage into Hudson Bayou. This not only triggered fines from the state's Department of Environmental Protection, but the incidents revealed the city did not own the property under the old lift station. Most of the city's sewage flows by means of the force of gravity. After the sewage gets to the new lift station, it must be pumped to a higher level to get to the treatment plant on 12th Street. Now that Garland and the engineers believe they understand what went wrong with the first attempt, they face one final decision before going to the public with their recommendation on how to proceed. Should the new 36-inch sewer main proceed straight under the bayou through use of "microtunneling" or should "horizontal directional drilling" be used to create an "inverted siphon"? The sign for the previous Lift Station 87 project stood for months in Luke Wood Park near downtown Sarasota. Photo by Norman Schimmel power. That system has two drawbacks. Sediment will collect at the bottom of the U, which means it must be cleaned periodically. And that could mean two siphons would be required, allowing 24/7/365 operation even Both systems incorporate natural forces to keep the flow going, with the straight pipe during cleaning or unclogging periods. using gravity and the syphon employing air Because it utilizes air pressure for propulpressure. No extra energy is used to propel sion, each end of the siphon must be open to the gallons of sewage. the atmosphere. That has the potential to creHowever, each technique has a drawback. ate odor problems. Garland says odor control The straight pipe system means the already systems exist for this technology, but with deep pit for the pumps must be dug another additional cost and complexity. eight feet further down. Should a new pit be Garland will release his recommendations dug or should the equipment be raised from and cost estimates at the Waldemere meeting. the existing pit, which would then be deepAfter hearing reactions from the residents of ened? Garland is looking at the costs of both the neighborhoods adjacent to the Lift Station approaches. 87 site, the team will meet again on Jan. 13 to The inverted siphon is basically a huge prepare a presentation to the Sarasota City U-shaped pipe that uses air pressure for Commission on Jan. 24. %