HAVERHILL, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A broken pipe in an aeration tank at the Wastewater Treatment plant in Haverhill set off a chain reaction nearly two weeks ago that left part of the town with an unbearable odor.
"Just raw sewage. Just really bad feces smell. Just really, really horrible," is how resident John Willette described the stench that's been hanging around the Bradford section of the city.
It began when the aeration tank at the plant had to be drained to allow for the pipe to be fixed. That caused all the water that filled the 15-foot deep to be diverted to the two remaining tanks, maxing them out.
"Basically the microorganisms in the process have gone septic," said Deputy DPW Director Bob Ward as he explained how the microorganisms decompose the organic matter in the water, left behind by solids, to make it safe to flow into the Merrimac River. With one tank down, there were too many microorganisms in the other tanks and not enough oxygen to keep them all alive to break down the waste.
City officials are now working to get the process back to normal. A big part of that is solid waste removal.
"We're running our solids processing more hours a day, we're adding Saturday and Sunday runs and we've also got trucks scheduled to come in starting tonight and trucking some of the solids to get them out of here," Ward said.
In addition, the water is being treated with chemicals to help reduce and eliminate the smell. Ward said residents should notice a difference by the end of the week.