WASA plans for expansion

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City's Water and Sewerage Authority will proceed with plans to increase sewer capacity by expanding its sewage treatment facilities and beginning a program to apply treated water to local golf courses.

WASA General Manager Larry Turner presented the plans to the board at its meeting Monday night. The expansion will allow the system to treat approximately 6 million gallons of sewage per day, compared to the current maximum rate of 4.9 million gallons per day.

The city's peak demand over the past year and a half has actually been lower, at 3.7 million gallons per day, Turner added.

But projections are that WASA will eventually need to handle about 5.83 million gallons per day, including all properties of Pathway Communities which currently includes a planned subdivision that will be located partially in Peachtree City and partially in unincorporated Fayette County.

Turner said WASA has also been asked to provide sewer service to the potential school site that will be located near that subdivision.

Turner was asked if there have been any complaints about the proposed program to apply the treated water at Braelinn and Planterra Ridge golf courses. He said he hadn't heard any negative feedback.

"The golf courses support this," Turner said. "They want it. It's a better source of water than they're using now."

Such procedures are commonplace in Florida and other areas that experience severe drought, Turner pointed out. Florida has been doing golf course applications of treated water for around 20 years, he said.

Plans are to spread 1.1 million gallons per day of the treated water on the golf courses. To store that water during periods of rain, a storage pond would likely need to be built, Turner added.

An expansion of the Rockaway sewage treatment plant will increase the sewer capacity by another two million gallons per day, Turner said.

Eventually, WASA plans to close its Flat Creek plant because it is costly to operate. WASA would still maintain its discharge permit for Flat Creek, however, so it can still release 900,000 gallons of treated sewage per day, Turner added.

The expansion plans must be approved by the state Environmental Protection Division before WASA can proceed with the upgrade. Turner said the facilities plan will be submitted to the EPD and WASA will move ahead with the design development review process.

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