Hollywood Road Wastewater Treatment Facility undergoes crucial upgrades after sewage spills

AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - In response to recent sewage spills in September and October, the Hollywood Road Wastewater Treatment Facility is undergoing crucial upgrades.

Amarillo City Council approved the purchase today for some equipment focused on addressing immediate needs and enhancing efficiency at the plant.

The approved upgrades include the purchase of monitoring equipment designed to closely track the plant’s activities.

Emergency filters and a new pump have also been approved to enhance the plant’s capabilities.

“It also had a portable temporary process to help with the sludge, that’s just an efficiency thing to help process sludge quickly,” said Floyd Hartman, assistant city manager, City of Amarillo.

Hartman says these pieces of equipment are being rented.

“These are just temporary needs at the plant until we get the permanent repairs and or permanent plant in place,” said Hartman.

He says the nearly 60-year-old plant still needs to be replaced.

“It still has some structural problems and tremendous amounts of aged infrastructure problems, so we will still be pursuing that, we will still be within the parameters of the 75 percent rule where the state requires us to go ahead and do the planning and design component of the plant replacement,” said Hartman.

Acknowledging the challenges, Hartman highlighted positive developments at the plant.

“The capacity is up and we were able to treat all the wastewater, we haven’t recently had any problems related to overflows, things are improving down there,” said Hartman.

Funding for these upgrades comes from Amarillo’s recently approved budget, allocating $17 million for repairs at the Hollywood Road Wastewater Treatment Facility.

These measures aim to address immediate concerns, while laying the groundwork for a more efficient wastewater treatment system.

As the upgrades take effect, Hartman urges residents to remain vigilant, reporting any unauthorized discharges into the sewer system.

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