Sedona-Oak Creek School District administration and the city of Sedona have taken preliminary steps to address an intermittent sewage smell near the concession stand of Sedona Red Rock High School, that has persisted for years.
“From a negative side of things, [the smell] has definitely been kind of an embarrassing response from all of our visitors, whenever we have visiting teams come, they’ll complain about it,” Athletic Director Peter Brock said. “But as far as operationally, it doesn’t really impact anything that we do right now.”
Brock said the odor is not a health concern, however the smell has become frequent and pronounced in recent months.
The school first needs to determine whether check valves already exist along the wastewater line; if none are found, two or three will need to be installed. The valves “close when no sewage is flowing to prevent gasses from venting toward campus,” Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Chilton, Ed.D., wrote.
Chilton walked the campus alongside a team of wastewater operators on Jan. 29 to investigate the smell. City of Sedona Wastewater Director Roxanne Holland sent a team to find immediate solutions and identified a longer-term fix: The installation of check valves at two to three locations on campus. Research is still needed to develop a comprehensive plan.
“I did meet with our liaison at School Facilities Division/Building Renewal Grants to explore submitting an application for funding for these valves [but] SFD only repairs or replaces existing equipment, so that may not be an option for funding,” Chilton wrote. “However, the wastewater treatment operators are planning to camera scope the campus sewer lines to determine whether there may be valves in place that could be repaired as opposed to the need for new check valve installation that would not be SFD eligible.”
“Any time a drain dries out on campus, the smell is pronounced,” Chilton wrote.
Sealing all drain access points was the first step taken while longer-term remediation is planned. If the scope finds no existing check valves, Chilton said the problem would be classified as a design issue rather than a maintenance issue.
Historically, a smell has lingered in areas near SRRHS, particularly the intersection of State Route 89A and Upper Red Rock Loop Road. But the campus might be more predisposed to the smell since the property is connected to the city’s main sewer interceptor, which moves wastewater to the Wastewater Reclamation Plant from throughout Sedona.
“This interceptor carries higher volumes of flow than typical neighborhood sewer lines, which can increase the potential for odors in certain locations,” Holland wrote.
“The city has received odor-related complaints in this general area in the past and has odor control systems in place east of the high school to help reduce odors,” Holland wrote. “The odor condition affecting a specific building on campus appears to be related to sewer gases entering through building drains and/or vents, rather than an issue with the city’s sewer infrastructure. The school is planning to install removable drain plugs to help reduce the entry of sewer gases while maintaining access for cleaning and maintenance. Installing valves on the sewer lines that receive flow from those buildings may further help with future odors.”
The school district is responsible for the cost of sewer work on district property, and no cost estimate is available yet, as the project remains in early discussion stages. Chilton anticipates the project would be scheduled for summer to avoid disrupting instruction and does not expect it to affect track access.
The city’s role in the project is advisory.
“The city does not oversee or schedule building-level plumbing improvements on school district property,” Holland wrote.
