WASA will consider accepting septic tank waste for county

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

Peachtree City's Water and Sewer Authority has agreed to consider a proposal to handle disposal of septage emptied from the septic tanks of Fayette County homes.

Currently, septic haulers dispose the waste in Clayton County, but Clayton officials have indicated they will no longer accept the waste from Fayette. As a result, local leaders are looking for a solution to the problem.

The solution could come with a special treatment facility that could be built allowing the septage to be pretreated and then treated through the regular process, said WASA general manager Larry Turner. Turner said he was receptive to such a solution as long as WASA didn't fund the construction of the facility.

The operation of the facility could be funded through the fees to septic haulers wishing to dispose of the material, Turner said. The proposal would only account for about 1,500 gallons a day, "a drop in the bucket" compared to the millions of gallons of sewage the city treats each day, Turner said.

Turner said there are an estimated 17,000 homes in Fayette County on septic tanks and another 3,000 such homes in Peachtree City.

The septage facility would allow solids to be separated from the septage, with the byproducts of liquid and organic matter piped into the system for treatment, Turner said.

There aren't many other viable alternatives to this solution, Turner added. The estimated cost of the facility is $87,000.

WASA member Ted Taylor said if the authority didn't step in to do something, it could create a situation where questionable companies would dump the septage illegally elsewhere in the county, harming the environment.

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