The Haines Borough this week completed a $25,000 fix to its sewage treatment plant.

A broken rake drive in the main clarifying tank there meant the plant hadn’t been functioning properly, said borough projects director Brad Maynard. Sewage flows into the tank, with solids settling to the bottom, where they’re raked into a hole at the bottom and then pressed into sludge.

The broken rake drive meant the solids weren’t reaching the hole, he said. “The material at the bottom of the tank has to be moved or it will rot there,” Maynard said.

The clarifying tank, that’s about 28 feet wide and seven feet deep, was about four feet deep in accumulated solids, a large amount that tipped off workers to a possible problem with the rake. The rake is at the bottom of the tank and can’t be seen.

The fix, by Hendrickson Construction of Juneau, should be noticeable, Maynard said. “It will be phenomenal how much better the system runs.”

It may have been broken close to a year, said water and sewer plant operator Scott Bradford. Although there have been complaints about odor from the plant in recent months, the smell more likely came from turning off aerators at the plant to save money than from the broken rake, he said.

Aerators are used to keep solids “fresher” as they’re moving from the clarifying tank. “It keeps the sludge fresher and keeps it from going aseptic,” Bradford said.

A local science class reported what they thought was sewage in the stream across the street from the school, but Bradford said there’s no plumbing connection between the plant and its contiguous wetlands. “Maybe the bear (shot at the school in the fall) is back there rotting. Maybe that’s what they smelled.”

Borough projects director Maynard said the plant shouldn’t need to be replaced any time soon. “I don’t think the science or technology of primary (sewage treatment) has changed that much. Now that we’ve got the plant fixed, it will work as well as any other one. As long as it’s kept up, it doesn’t need to be replaced.”

The borough pays close to $1,300 per month in sludge removal. In recent weeks, borough assemblymen have discussed alternatives to hauling sludge, including creating composting and methane-heat generation.

Maynard said the borough would be ahead if it could give its sludge away. “We don’t need to charge money for it.”