LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville residents have been asking the same question for years: what's that smell?
Does it smell like rotten eggs? Well, then it's most likely hydrogen sulfide coming from the sewers. An issue that's not new to West Louisville.
"[It's] terrible, like a dirty diaper. Even worse. Times ten," said Park Duvalle resident Ms. Francis. She did not want to give her first name. "Everybody in the west end should have something to say about this because we all smell it. We all live it, we deal with it every day."
To address the issue, Louisville MSD is hosting a series of "clAIRity" meetings to update the public face-to-face on efforts made to manage sewer odors.
"Odor is a natural and inevitable result of the millions of gallons of wastewater flushed and sent down the drain across this community every day, and that's why managing sewer odor is an ongoing priority for MSD," MSD Executive Director Tony Parrott said. "We hear our customers' concerns about sewer odor and developed the clAIRity Program as our collective efforts to manage odor and proactively share updates with the community."'
Parrott said sewer system catch basins are one of the main reasons for the odor, especially untrapped catch basins.
"We've got about 10,000 of those catch basins that we have on our list – but they're broken down into various neighborhoods across West Louisville," said Parrott.
Some reasons the odor gets worse are periods of dry weather and water conservation trends that result in less water flowing through the underground pipes to flush the system.
The sewer system is meant to be self-cleaning. If there's no water flushing out the system, the odor stays.
As a series of construction projects, MSD will replace 295 untrapped catch basins that are a contributor to the odor across several neighborhoods.
“MSD is working to try to solve a lot of the problems that we are having here in the city with the smells concerning MSD," said Frank Anderson, who has lived in the Shawnee neighborhood for 26 years.
Anderson said there are other odors that are apparent in his neighborhood, like chemical smells.
Parrott assures that if the odor smells like chemicals, it's not coming from MSD.
MSD uses biological filters, chemical treatments, and thermal oxidation at its treatment plants to mitigate odor, and systematically invests in enhanced odor control processes across its facilities.
The holdup for MSD fixing all the basins is a lack of funding.
"A lot of the projects that we are bringing forward now for odor mitigation, currently they're not in our budget," Parrott said. He said MSD will have to have in-depth conversations with the board about funding the projects.
Parrott said the problem areas, plus the projects currently underway, will cost around $60 million.
Until then, Francis said she will keep air fresheners, Febreze, and Glade plug ins in her home.
"Stuff to keep the house smelling good," she said.
MSD officials said they will schedule more than 800 additional catch basin replacement projects in future budgets and is currently in the process of an extensive review of facilities and systems to identify short- and long-term investments to further enhance odor mitigation.
You can file an odor complaint here.
Complete schedule of upcoming MSD clAIRity meetings:
- Tuesday, April 23, 6-7 p.m., MSD Central Maintenance Facility, 3050 Commerce Center Place
- Wednesday, June 26, 6-7 p.m., Western Library, 604 S. 10th Street
- Tuesday, August 27, 6-7 p.m., Shawnee Library, 3912 W. Broadway
- Tuesday, October 15, 6-7 p.m., MSD Central Maintenance Facility, 3050 Commerce Center Place
- Thursday, October 24, 1-2 p.m., Norton Healthcare Goodwill Opportunity Center, 2820 W. Broadway
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