1. “What was thatStench?” May 9, 2015
Water Treatment:
Last year Hattiesburg,MShad an issue withanodorthat permeatedthe air.Neitherthe problem,
nor the reasoningbehindthe problemwasunderstoodbythe citizens.Alltheyknew wasthey
wantedthe smell gone,andthe problem(s) fixedsotheycouldroll downthe car windowswithout
beingovertakenbythe wonderful smell of sewage.
What the citizensdidnotknowwashow muchdamage that the city incurredinthe aftermathof
Hurricane Katrina,and bythe most recenttornadothat rippedthroughthe cityon Sunday,February
10, 2013. While the damage above groundwasbeingattendedto,the damage underneaththe city
wouldsoonhave to be addressed,buthow?
“Well,firstof all we have to rememberone mainthing,”saysShae McNease fromShows,
Dearman,and Waites.“Thatone thingis that we cannotcreate new water.The waterthat we have
isrecycledandreused.We have to workfrom withintoaddressandfix the problemforourcitizens.
Thiswon’tbe easy,but if we worktogetherwe can make thishappen.”
So,on the outside thisdoesnotsoundtooappealing,right?Right.Thatwas alsothe case for me
until Ivisitedthe lagoonswithThe Directorof The Water andSewerDepartment,ChadFrierson.
What he showedme wasthe manywaysthat the Cityof Hattiesburg,andhisdepartmenthave been
workingtoresolve this“stinkysituation.”
“There are aeratorsinthe lagoonsthatplace oxygenbackintothe waterto promote the growthof
the microorganisms,”saidFrierson.“There are acouple of thingsgoingon here:One,youhave to
maintainanoxygenbarrierinthe waterthat traps the release of the decayingsludge thatresultsin
a sulfurdioxide.Thatsulfuriswhatgivesthatrotteneggsmell.If we donot produce more oxygen
withinthe microorganisms,theybegintodie. Whenthingsdie,theysmell.Youcan have toomuch,
or not enoughoxygen.The balance hastobe carefullymaintained.Thisisanatural biological event
that takesplace.The aeratorsassistin maintainingthisbalance,”saidFrierson.
What you see inthe picturesisa small example of the dailyprocessesthattake place atthe
lagoons.These lagoonscoverapproximately400 acre cellsare aboutthe size of a small lake.There
are fourcells,whichinclude levees;two influents(one from Petal,andone fromHattiesburg.)
These influentsbringinthe waterfromthese twocities,whichthenisexpelledintothe lagoonsfor
furtherprocessing.The waterthenmoves fromthe worststage,the sludgystage,tothe aerators,
and so on.
The final processisa “bleachingeffect.”Thisstage isthe most detailedbecauseatthispointall of
the waterhas beenbroughtthroughthe variousstagesto getit intothe “bleachingchannels.”Inside
these channelsthe waterisina final filteringstage thatincludesfinal refinementandbleaching.This
final processtakesaboutthree tofive daysto complete.Once complete,the waterisreadyforit’s
final destination:the Leaf River.

2. The processisa lengthyone,butone that isnecessaryfor our watersystemstoremainintact.Just
like Mr. McNeese stated,“We can’tcreate new water.”
For more informationonhowtoget yourschool or organizationinvolvedinthe watertreatment
process,or howto furtherpromote peersinfurthereducationregardingourcitylagoons,please
contact the Cityof HattiesburgPublicRelationsDepartmentat601-545-4508.
Katherine D.Parker
PublicRelations
Writer/Photographer
For the Cityof Hattiesburg