The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewage District (MMSD) took the first step today to fix a filtration system that attempts to mask the odors from their Jones Island Reclamation Facility.
The filter broke back in 2002 and currently only a vent with no filtration system is doing the job.
The foul odor has a distinct smell to those in Milwaukee’s Third Ward and Walkers Point.
“It smells like what everybody had for dinner a couple of weeks ago,” said Eric Paulsen who lives nearby.
He is not alone. Third Ward resident Justin Fazio said, “I think it smells like poop.”
Monday, an MMSD committee approved a $337,750 fix for the filtration system. Officials at the district know that this is just part of the problem of odors from Jones Island and the surrounding facilities that use and produce chemicals.
Part of the district’s 2050 facilities plan calls for capping eight sewage tanks nearby at an early estimate of $19.5 million dollars.
The next step for the filtration fix is an approval by the full commission, which officials say could happen in the next two weeks.
The Jones Island Reclamation Facility opened in 1926 and together with one other facility, more than 70 billion gallons a year of sewage is treated.
