PANAMA CITY BEACH — Local officials hope a more than $1.2 million project will eliminate sewer and wastewater odors throughout the city. 

On Tuesday, the first of six new filtering systems to curb the problem was unveiled at the Panama City Beach Wastewater Treatment Facility on Gulf Avenue near Back Beach Road. 

According to Councilman Paul Casto, the device was installed at the facility about two weeks ago and should be online within the month. It features two tanks that will use thousands of small plastic balls designed to collect bacteria and charcoal to eliminate practically all wastewater odors.

"We're taking care of the worst problem (first), and the plant here is the worst problem," Casto said. "Other communities (also) have this problem, (but) we're just fortunate enough that we have the funding to purchase the new technology."

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He noted that the project was funded through the city's utilities fund for the 2022 fiscal year. It includes the system already in place at the plant, another also slated for the same location and four other systems that will be built at various lift stations throughout the city. 

Mark Shaeffer, utilities director for PCB, said all systems were scheduled to be installed by March, but supply chain issues sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic have caused delays. 

Because of this, Shaeffer did not have a timeline for when the other five filters would be built. 

"There's been some concerns about nuisance odors from people passing by on Panama City Beach Parkway (and) on Joan Avenue where we have some primary lift stations," he said. "We wanted to be a good neighbor here and do our best to make the situation better.

"It's something that the council has been wanting to do for a long time," Shaeffer added. "Everybody is 100% behind this."

Casto also said that the project is especially important for him because he was the city's public works director for 35 years before being voted onto the City Council.

Information provided by the city states the filter already installed at the wastewater treatment facility cost more than $216,000. 

"The technology has changed over the years and this is a state-of-the-art process that we didn't have years ago to remove this odor out of the air and improve the quality of life for residents," Casto said.  "I'm excited about finally making this nuisance odor go away."