A large, unlicensed sewage dumper is on the loose somewhere in South Davis County. He's discharging up to 800,000 gallons of liquid waste several times a week into the South Davis County Sewer Improvement District system.
"We can't figure out who could be doing this," district general manager Dal Wayment said. "It's a real puzzle."He said district officials have noticed an unusually high demand for chlorine - up to two times a week - in their treatment process and based on daily averages of volume were able to determine there was a rogue industrial user out there.
"We don't think that this is from an industry that's typically on our lists," Wayment said, explaining the oil refineries have pretty much been ruled out since they have their own flow meters.
Still, it's too large a flow - at least several hundred thousand gallons a time - to just be a dump truck using a manhole.
The district has sent letters to all of its industrial customers warning them of illegal use and the consequences if they're caught - up to $1,000 in fines a day from the state level and an even stiffer maximum penalty of $25,000 daily if the Environmental Protection Agency becomes involved.
Wayment said over time the extra chlorine required to process the bandit waste will easily number in the thousands of dollars. The district is also losing potential revenue in user fees on the dumping. Still, he has a higher concern - What it is and could the waste be toxic? It could contaminate the district's sludge beds, he said.
"Whatever it is, it consumes chlorine . . . "We haven't figured out a way to test for this yet," he said, explaining the district is working on ways to determine some key ingredients for the waste and then go up the branch lines to narrow down the search.
Wayment said he's not sure if the culprit business is doing it intentionally or in ignorance, thinking whatever goes down the drain must be OK. Still, he said this doesn't just involve an industry simply washing down their floors - it's a substantial flow.
The South Davis Sewer District has two plants, and the illegal use involves the southern treatment plant near 2500 W. Center in North Salt Lake.
Wayment said the volume of wastewater for the district fluctuates a lot and is typically highest between 10-11 a.m. and lowest from 2-3 a.m.