For the eighth year in a row, the residential and industrial sewer rates will stay the same for customers of the Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority.

The authority met in a day-long retreat Saturday and decided to hold the sewer rates steady, said WASA General Manager Larry Turner. The residential rates will remain $3.50 per 1,000 gallons up to 10,000 gallons, and above that the charge drops to $1.75 per 1,000 gallons.

The rate freeze has been possible because of good budgeting and few repairs that are needed, Turner said.

Turner also attributed the freeze in the sewer rates to the WASA following a solid budget.

At the retreat, the authority decided to create a new charge to tack on to industries when they discharge high-strength wastewater into the sewer treatment system. Most sewer agencies charge such a fee, but WASA did not because it previous owner of the sewer system, Georgia Utilities, had not implemented it, Turner said.

WASA will now charge 82 cents per pound to treat that material, Turner said.

All industries in Peachtree City pre-treat their water to rid it of some contaminants before they discharge it into the sewer treatment system, Turner said. That process is usually cheaper for the company compared to sending water into the system that needs extra treatment procedures, especially now that such water will incur a higher charge.

Currently, the authority is working with the state Environmental Protection Division to develop a plan to expand the Rockaway treatment plant, which releases treated water into Line Creek, so the Flat Creek treatment plant can be closed. The Flat Creek plant was originally designed to be temporary though it has lasted 30 years, Turner added.

Plans to expand the Rockaway facility also depend on the city council's decision about the West Village annexation issue. If that development is not annexed, it would cause the plant's expansion plans to be scaled down somewhat, Turner added.

The plant expansion is estimated to cost approximately $10 million, and WASA hopes to use a state revolving loan program to fund the project, Turner said.

The other projects WASA will oversee in the future is the testing of sewer lines by running a small video camera inside the pipes to look for blockages and damages. Once those tests are "caught up" on all city sewer lines, WASA plans to have them re-tested every three years, Turner added.

WASA also wants to replace a few aging pump stations in the next three or four years, Turner said.

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