The smell on the Hood River waterfront should be a little sweeter in the future as the city has chosen to go forward on design plans for a primary clarifier for odor control.

City council met Jan. 17 and voted to award the $89,622 bid for the final design to CH2M Hill.

The town and port have both had complaints for many years about the sometimes overpowering smell at the waterfront. The situation occurs when the hydrogen sulfide level rises.

The city’s wastewater treatment plant is located off Riverside Drive next to Interstate 84. The primary clarifier treats effluent as the first stage in the wastewater process and consists of a pool in the center surrounded by concrete rings, which is currently open on top to the air.

When the wind blows, it carries the smell into residential areas and also onto port office properties. How wide and far the smell spreads depends on the wind and the load that the wastewater plant is handling at the time.

The study will come up with a final design for a cap-shaped structure, which should cover the primary clarifier. It will include a pipe that conveys air from the clarifier through a bio-filtration system before it is sent to the next stage of treatment.

Once the design is finished, if the city chooses to go ahead with construction of the cap then it is expected to cost an estimated $420,000.