Flooding at the Atlantic Avenue Water Pollution Plant started in the area of the facility that houses screens that catch large debris in waste water before it's treated. Consultant Troy Briggs told City Council Monday night that the amount of water exceeded the equipment's capability and there wasn't any equipment failure. Briggs is recommending as a short term emergency measure removing one screen to allow unrestricted flow through the preliminary treatment plant. Longer term recommendations include increasing the screen cleaning speed and designing an emergency bypass around the preliminary treatment area. Briggs noted there was no benefit of having someone work at the plant overnight since there was no special machinery that could have prevented what went wrong. He also mentioned the design of the plant was typical for when it was built and the recommended changes only started to be included in new water pollution plant design plans.
