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Educational-List8475 t1_jakingj wrote

Reply to comment by Mediocre_Coconut_628 in is Southbridge as bad as everyone says? by apple-masher

It’s the compost operations. There’s absolutely zero odor control in the mostly open compost building. I worked there for a year, and I’m very close with the 2 guys that run the place. They get very little funding from the town for improvement projects, and when they do they’re kind of whimsical projects at best.

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apple-masher OP t1_jakkk81 wrote

I'm really curious what a whimsical sewage plant project looks like.

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Educational-List8475 t1_jakl9og wrote

The plant isn’t whimsical per se but instead of odor control units they replaced a conveyer belt with a screw conveyer and dump truck system for dewatered sludge. So now instead of replacing bearings and fixing the damn belt every few weeks, they have to empty this dump truck every 2 hours while running the centrifuge. Seems like there could have been a better upgrade but Southbridge went with the absolute cheapest contract bidder like usual.

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Mediocre_Coconut_628 t1_jakiyo8 wrote

That’s pretty much what I figured. I’ve worked at a few in my life and it’s always money. Most of these places need massive capital investments to operate correctly but they are always last on the list for towns

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Educational-List8475 t1_jakjdh5 wrote

Out of sight out of mind right. You’d think that awful stink would get people talking about funding but no.

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Mediocre_Coconut_628 t1_jakjrtm wrote

Yeah exactly. Every time I’m down at the BigY plaza I am appalled at the smell. Especially the thought of going to get pizza or McDonald’s with that smell!

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Educational-List8475 t1_jakktp3 wrote

The funny part is the sewer plant doesn’t smell any worse than any other sewer plant in the world. All that nasty compost smell gets blown over to big y!

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Mediocre_Coconut_628 t1_jaklcjr wrote

Well I’ll disagree with you there, many treatment plants perform odor control and don’t smell nearly that bad. Inside the plant? Yeah sure stinks a little. An 1/8-1/4 mile from the plant? That’s unsat. And I’m talking I’ve worked at deer island in Winthrop and you can’t smell the plant if you’re in the parking lot of the place

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Whole-Wishbone-7539 t1_jat0lea wrote

I'm curious what they did at the Worcester plant at the southwest cut off. Growing up that place stunk to high heaven. They overhauled it in some way and it's actually liveable over there now.

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Educational-List8475 t1_jaklo7l wrote

I meant that you don’t smell that compost very much on-site, the smell is most acute across the river at big y. Still smells there for sure

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Mediocre_Coconut_628 t1_jakm15f wrote

Yeah. Like I said it’s a tough job with no funding. I wish the town would put some more money into the place. Covered clarifiers, air filtration, additives to the process, all solution, all are expensive.

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