WHAT’S THAT SMELL? If you live near our wastewater facility on Ingram Road, we know the smell is frustrating. It’s important to keep a few things in mind. First, you can be sure that our BMU operators at the facilities are just as anxious to solve the problem as you are – they are also your neighbors.  We operate two treatment plants at this site, the Sikeston BMU Wastewater Treatment Plant has been in operation at this location since 1968 and the second since 1988.

We treat about 3,000,000 gallons of wastewater every day. The sewage from homes, businesses, and industry that travels through sewer system until it's delivered to our wastewater treatment plants. We then use biological organisms to break down organic matter to clean the wastewater. Recently we had multiple blowers fail at the 1968 plant and discovered some leaks in the air piping from the blowers to the plant, this in conjunction with a large waste load, was more than the biological organisms could handle. With the warmer weather the smell has become increasingly worse and has made it even harder to revive the biological organisms. 

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO FIX IT? We have acquired rental blowers to use while our blowers are being rebuilt and have a contractor working to fix the air piping leaks.  During the reestablishment process, gases are created, which cause unpleasant odors. Unfortunately reviving the plant will take some time. Fixing the cause of these odors can be time-consuming, complicated, and costly. We do understand and feel for those neighbors who are dealing with this odor issue. Please give us a call if you would like more information about our wastewater treatment operations.