Editor’s Note: This story is part of an occasional series looking into the city’s sewer system.

While they might have done things a little differently in the beginning, building officials say they’re impressed with the city’s sewer project.

Dozens with the Colorado River Building Industry Association listened to a presentation Wednesday evening from Public Works Director Mark Clark concerning work on Lake Havasu City’s expansive 10-year sewer project. The purpose of the presentation was to educate and answer questions any CRBIA officials had. CRBIA Executive Director Bud Schulz said he had plenty of questions and concerns before the meeting but said he left “with a positive outlook” Wednesday night.

“The word alleviate is a good one to describe how I felt afterwards because I had certain built in prejudices about it going into it,” Schulz said. “It was too expensive and it was not handled well initially. I think that was my main concern because it has been handled a hell of a lot better for the last few years now.”

Schulz referred to the initial engineers on the project including Burns and McDonnell, Resource Concepts Inc., AMEC and PBS&J.

“It is vastly improved compared to the mistakes and difficulties on the project because of those first (engineering firms) but I think the city has handled it great since then,” Schulz said. “Most of us here, being on septic tanks, are not sewer knowledgeable. We have people on city government and engineers that should be familiar with that expertise and at first they were not.”

Schulz said engineering firms “should have told city officials” about building codes that require sewer relief and backwater valves be installed on certain properties.

“In retrospect you’d think that, because they were in the industry, they would have known about them,” Schulz said, adding that it could be looked at as a “hole” in the project. “In retrospect it should have been at least approached and considered. But again that’s hindsight and it’s easy to say it now.”

The City Council selected consulting services with engineering firm PBS&J earlier this month to perform a retrofitting program that will install about 8,000 new backwater and relief valves in the city expected to cost $169,000 for the company’s services. Public Works Director Mark Clark said previously that no representatives from Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, or engineering groups Burns & McDonnell, Resource Concepts Inc. or AMEC mentioned the need for the valves during design or construction.

“That’s the interesting part. There were several opportunities for someone to say ‘hey you need to put backwater valves in there or need to consider it as an issue.’ But that never happened,” Clark said earlier this month. “I can’t explain why none of the engineering firms along the way ever thought of this. … There is no evidence of any conscious choice at all going back to the beginning of the project.”

Backwater and relief valves are both designed to ensure potential backups do not enter into homes. Backwater valves close the pathway into the home in the event of a backup while sewer relief valves are designed to dispel the excess sewage somewhere near the home, rather than inside it.

CRBIA President and Parker resident Mark Durham said the “size and scope of the project” should be considered before analyzing it.

“It’s enormous for that size of town and it was going in after the fact,” Durham said. “The amount of coordination and the engineering involved is tedious to get this to work correct. … It was not without its issues obviously, but I think overall with what was put on their lap at the time and with the way the city was functioning at the time I think at the end of the day you’re looking at something that’s going to be good and is good for the city.”

Durham added that some residents might not be able to look past their individual rates in the project, however.

“I’m purely an outsider looking in and I don’t know about rates because I don’t pay them,” he said. “What I look at and what I can speak about is what (city officials) had to endure with the public and to go in and put that sewer system in for the city takes a lot of patience on the public’s part. … I mean this was huge and a remodel on a grand scale.”

The omission of the relief and backwater valves and switching engineering companies several times is “not uncommon,” Durham said.

“I’ve witnessed and been involved in other sewer projects in other counties and they switched engineers for various reasons,” he said. “Do people or cities want to do that? No, but it does happen and it’s typically for the better.”

Schulz and Durham agreed that the final sewer project should be beneficial to the city in many ways.

It’s economically and environmentally much better for the city,” Schulz said. “It could have been phased in perhaps in a different way and mistakes were made but I’m impressed with the work and the changes the city has made since the start.”

Durham said the project could also have potential bonuses for the city as a whole.

“This is going to improve the value of the city as a whole and it’s a plus for the city and it’s a long way to go but it’s something to be proud of,” Durham said. “With Lake Havasu City in its condition during that day and moving through it, they did have a couple of hiccups, but they were able to overcome them and they’ve continued to move forward.

You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com