Lici Beveridge

Engagement Editor

Hattiesburg City Council members voted Monday to approve a trial run of a new microbiology treatment process that could save the city money at no cost to the city.

Rod Dickerson, who has been developing ways to treat wastewater using microbiology, has a new way of treating sewage right at the wastewater plant.

With the help of Steve Mitchell, who previously worked with the city, he made a presentation following council's regular work session.

Mitchell and Dickerson previously tried to introduce a similar system, but it was not cost-effective because it would involve a lot of manhours.

At the time, the two men said they tried to tell council members that waste products from USA Yeast would not work well with the microbiology because the pH was too high and there was not enough oxygen to keep the necessary bacteria alive.

Now that the company has resolved most of that issue with the city, and with Dickerson's new process, he said he believes it could work to reduce the city's biosolids by about 80 percent.

"It is a very comprehensive solution," he said.

Dickerson added that the microbiology is able to cannibalize and is self-regulatory.

Nathan Husman, an engineer with Neel-Schaffer, said he looked over the process and agreed that it could be beneficial to the city.

The process would reduce the city's approximately $1.2 million energy budget for treatment by about 15 percent, according to estimates made by Dickerson.

Council members went into executive session with Husman and an attorney to discuss the matter, and when they came out, voted 4-0 to allow Dickerson to proceed with a trial run. Council President Kim Bradley had left immediately following the work session, so he was not present for the vote.

"If you can save us money, I'm all for it if it works," Ward 1 Councilman Carter Carroll said.

Dickerson is working with a company in Jackson that is licensed to use such treatment processes. The company would come down and perform the process at its own expense, making money by sharing the city's energy-cost savings.

"Conserving energy and water is the right thing to do," Dickerson said.