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King: Availability of funds key TWSA's next 20 years

By Rose Hooper
The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority recently commissioned a 20-year study to be completed by W.K. Dickson of Asheville. The results of the study were presented during a meeting of the authority last month.

Why the study
"When we were first formed, we consolidated the towns of Sylva and Dillsboro and Jackson County into one systemwide operation. Then we took inventory of what we had and what needed to be done and embarked on a five-year capital improvement plan," said Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority Executive Director Jerry King.

"After that we knew there were other things that needed to be done. But how much larger is the picture than we really know. How will we anticipate and plan for future growth?" he said.

This study presents recommendations for improving existing water and sewer systems and expanding these systems into new areas of service.

Existing facilities
Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority provides public water and sewer services throughout much of Jackson County. TWSA was formed in 1992 to consolidate the efforts of public entities within Jackson County to provide public water and sanitary sewer service for county residents.

The authority currently provides water and sewer service to two separate regions within Jackson County. The north systems provide both water and sewer services to the Dillsboro, Sylva, Webster and Cullowhee areas. The south system provides sewer services to the southern end of Jackson County

. "We have 48 miles of water lines - some in existence 75 years - and 33 miles of sewer lines - some in the ground since the 1920s," King said.

TWSA currently provides water and sewer services to approximately 2,200 customers.

Where does the water flow?
TWSA's Water Treatment Plant uses the Tuckaseigee River as a water source. The water plant intake is located in Cullowhee, immediately upstream of the Western Carolina University power dam.

Jackson County is unique in that it drains into two separate major river basins. These two major river basins are separated by the Tennessee Valley Divide, which passes through the county between the Cashiers and Glenville communities. The southern portion of the county, which encompasses Cashiers, drains to the Savannah River Basin and ultimately the Atlantic Ocean. The remainder of the county drains to the Tennessee River Basin. The Tennessee River converges with Ohio River and ultimately drains through the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico.

North water system
That water system is a consolidation of systems previously owned by individual public entities. Water supply is provided by a 1.5 million gallon per day water treatment plant located in Cullowhee. Portions of the distribution system have been in service for over 75 years. The total length of distribution piping in the water system is estimated at 48 miles.

North sewage system
The north sewage system has two sewage treatment plants. Sewage treatment plant No. 1, which discharges to the Tuckaseigee River, has a capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day. Sewage treatment plant No. 2 discharges to Scotts Creek and has a capacity of 0.5 MGD. Some sections of the collection system in the Sylva and Dillsboro areas date to the 1920s. The total length of collection piping in the north sewer system is estimated at approximately 33 miles.

South sewage system
The authority also operates a sewer system in southern Jackson County, which serves the immediate Cashiers area. The south sewer system has one sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 0.1 MGD. The collection system consists of a combination of 8-inch gravity sewers, 7 sewage pumping stations and associated force mains. The total length of piping in the south sewer system is less than three miles.

Total projects
Breaking it down into those three categories for the next 20 years, King said for the north water system Dickson estimated 36 projects, totaling $23 million. For the north sewer system, Dickson estimated 46 projects at $29 million. For the Cashiers sewer system, Dickson listed 20 projects totaling $7 million. "If we did all the projects, it would cost us $60 million," King said.

Needs Analysis
Three distinctly different types of projects were analyzed in completing this study. Evaluations included consideration of projects to 1) renovate existing system components which have degraded due to age and high use; 2) upgrade existing system components to provide additional capacity; and 3) extend water and sewer systems into new service areas.

The most critical projects are those related to renovation and upgrade of existing system components. This type of project is necessary to maintain adequate service to existing customers. The most important water projects include improving the conveyance of water from the treatment plant to the Webster, Sylva and Dillsboro areas and the future expansion of the water treatment plant.

"We have the plan in works for extending the water lines across the Tuckaseigee River in Dillsboro," King said.

From Cullowhee to Dillsboro
To get to Dillsboro, King said one of the plans called for picking up the line at Long Branch Road in Cullowhee, going up by the airport and installing a million-gallon pumping station and storage tank located a little below the Jackson County Airport. "That's just phase I and that's estimated at $2 million," he said.

Phase II would take the water lines down the other side to N.C. 116, going on down the Tuckaseigee River and coming in at the other side of the river from Dillsboro on U.S. 441. That phase is estimated at $1 million.

Stand-by power
Another critical water need is stand-by power. "Right now we have just about 2 1/2 days supply of water if the power went completely out. We need stand-by power to pump additional water from the Tuckaseigee River," he said.

Reducing infiltration
Critical needs projects for the north sewer system include the identification and reduction of inflow an infiltration sources. "We've got ground water getting into our sewer system. It could be the man holes, gutters or drains but it especially surges when it rains," King said. "What that means is we end up paying to have to treat rain water."

That project, estimated at $298,000, can be done in-house or on a contact basis. It involves placing smoke bombs in the man holes and plugging various lines. "We'll just smoke certain sections at a time. The smoke will come out underground if it's broken lines," King described the process.

Expanding treatment plants
Other critical needs associated with the north sewer system are the future expansion Sewage Treatment Plant No. 1 and the future abandonment of Sewage Treatment Plant No. 2.

The most critical need associated with the south sewer system is the future expansion of Sewage Treatment Plant No. 3, which is operating at 90 percent capacity during peak months.

"The reason we can't get any state bond money to help us with this plant is that the yearly average doesn't meet the state requirements," King said. "During the winter months Cashiers is operating at way below capacity, but during peak tourist season it's at its limit."

Dickson's study indicated that in just three years, the year-round rate would exceed the 100,000 gallons per day flow. Dickson proposed two options 1) moving the sewage treatment facilities to a location south of Cashiers on the Whitewater River; or 2) expanding the existing facility to a maximum of 200,000 gallons per day.

According to the study, further options for providing sewer service for the Cashiers area entailed:

(1) A pressure collection system, which, compared to a gravity collection system, is less costly to construct. A pressure collection system does require that each residence or business connecting to the system operate its own individual pump to help maintain pressure throughout the collector pipe. A grinder pump or a septic tank effluent pumping system is required in this instance. For existing residences and businesses currently using septic tanks, a STEP system would only require the addition of a small effluent pump. Future residences and business may find it less expensive to employ a grinder pump.

(2) A gravity collection system would require use of 8-inch gravity mains. Up to 25 pump stations would be required to provide service in the study area. The benefit of a gravity system is the use of grinder pumps or STEP systems are not required to connect to the service. Because of this, more residences or businesses may connect, offsetting some of the extra cost of a gravity system. A cost estimate for a total build-out using a gravity collection system is approximately $12,800,000, according to Dickson.

Growth areas
King said Jackson County's current population is 29,815. "By the year 2020, we'll be looking at 33,023 and that doesn't even count the anticipated rapid growth of the university."

Future growth and increasing demands are anticipated along the major roadways serving the Sylva area of Jackson County. The four major areas of potential growth are 1) the U.S. 74 west corridor towards Qualla; 2) the U.S. 441 South corridor towards the Savannah community; 3) the U.S. 74 east corridor towards Balsam; and the 4) the N.C. 107 South corridor towards the Tuckaseigee Community.

Additionally, there are areas of dense residential development adjacent to the U.S. 64 and N.C. 107 corridors just outside of the current service area. Currently, that area of highest concentration is located on old N.C. 107, between SR 1112 (Cashiers School Road) and SR 1105.

Funding Sources
"Logically, we won't be able to do all these $60 million projects," King said. "The key will be the availability of funds and demand will key what we do."

Dickson' study proposed a variety of potential state and federal funding sources. Those included the USDA/Rural Development Center, the Appalachian Regional Commission, Southwestern N.C. Planning and Economic Development Commission, Economic Development grants, the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, state bond loan programs and the state revolving loan and grant program.

"Unless we can take advantage of some of these funding sources, especially grant funds, it doesn't look good. In fact, I don't see any other way around it than a rate increase," King said.

Back to Archive: 04/27/00.