HomeMy WebLinkAboutC.054.93008_0889 (2)444
water intake. I think it stands to reason that if there were any problems with these or anything
harmful or any pollutants that would cause any problems, we would not be allowed to discharge
wastewater above the water intake of the City of Winston-Salem, or any other town for that matter.
One of the questions that came up a little earlier this evening. You talked about spray
irrigation of effluent water from these plants. In Florida that's very common. In South Carolina,
that's common. I believe that Hilton Head Island, they take the wastewater from that complex and
use it to irrigate the golf course. That's, in my opinion, a good viable use for the effluent.
However, in North Carolina the restrictions are such that if you spray or irrigate with the effluent
from the sewage treatment plant, the area must be fenced so no one can get in the area. It can't be
used for pasture; it can't be used for any type of recreation which humans would come in contact.
You have got to put a barrier -type fence; you've got to sign in all around talking about what type
of, what you're doing. The reason that I'm somewhat familiar with this that we just went through a
procedure trying to make application to the State to get this type system at one of the plants that
I mentioned earlier that discharges into the City's water supply, and you also have to have an area
that you're spraying and a set aside area. There is some problems there as far as when you have
rain, freezing weather, run-off. There's all sorts of considerations there. In certain applica-
tions I think it's a very viable alternative, but it's my belief that a good, well operated, well
designed, well maintained wastewater treatment system will not cause any adverse environmental
impact.
You have generally, and I don't think I could honestly tell you that a wastewater collection
system won't leak. All of them will. There will be, generally, they will leak, but you have an
intrusion of water coming in rather than wastewater going out. But a well designed system will not
cause you any problems as far as ge3tting raw sewage out into the living areas. This will be taken
into the plant, treated, be treated to the level defined by the federal government and the State of
North Carolina, chlorinated to kill any organisms, (not clear) organisms in the water prior to
discharge, and then discharged.
If there is any specific questions, things that I might answer, I will be happy to attempt.
HEDRICK: I believe you said you all operate 14?
MALONE: Yes, sir.
HEDRICK: Do you discharge any of those 14 into an area that would be comparable to Lake
Norman?
MALONE: I discharge two of them into a lake. It's not as big as Lake Norman. It's actually
lakes on a golf course. And on those lakes one of them is the Bermuda Run Country Club. We
discharge into about a, I think it's somewhere in the range of a 20+ acre lake. That lake permits
fishing, there's all kinds of fish in that lake.
HEDRICK: But no water (not clear) . . . .
MALONE: It's not big enough for that; it's on the golf course. I am trying to think. None of
our facilities discharge into a lake (not clear) .
DAVENPORT: Will the system have any mechanical parts or anything that
could break down?
MALONE: yes, sir. It will have mechancial parts, and any mechanical part is subject to
breakdown. We try to address in several ways. First of all, obviously it is encumbent upon the
owners to have a good maintenance system and a good operation. We also put in dual units if we
require one motor or blower of a certain size, we will put in a separate one in at the same time as
a backup in case the system goes out. That's just good, prudent engineering design on these type
facilities.
DAVENPORT: Are you going to provide a backup for any mechanical part? Is there situation that
you can envision where something other than a mechanical failure could occur and you could have
essentially untreated waste being discharged?
MALONE: I'm sure there's some. Yes, sir. I think as I understand the project, there is a
private well system on the site that will be used for water supply. If you had a power outage, the
wells wouldn't be running either (not clear). . . .Generally on A2 water streams you are required
dual units and stand-by power and things like that. That's required (not clear) . . . . But outside
some catastrophic situation, I couldn't think of any, I operate out of
these 14 plants, we operate for municipalities, we go around and operate these
plants for towns. We operate the Town of Sylva, Jackson County, we operate
theirs, Johnston County, we operate their treatment system, Town of Mayodan,
Town of Chadbourn, and then we operate some private systems for industries and
sanitary districts. All of those in probably 30+ contract years of operation,
we have not had any untreated sewage to go into the receiving streams.
WALSER: Have you had an opportunity to review the plans for Heronwood and are you familiar
(not clear) . . .?
MALONE: Somewhat, yes, sir.
WALSER: Do you have an opinion (not clear) . what the best system for treating the
domestic waste water of that suLdivision would be?
CJI