Public support helps county solve water woes

Gwinnett County is part of the expanding metropolitan Atlanta area. Its one source of drinking water is nearby Lake Lanier, formed by a dam on the Chattahoochee River, which also serves the area’s tourism and recreation industries, and provides for downstream navigation and energy production.

Geography exacerbates the water supply problems because the Eastern Subcontinental Divide bisects the county, meaning much of the water taken from Lake Lanier is used and discharged into other watershed basins, reducing the overall flow of the Chattahoochee.

Furthermore, in 1995, American Rivers, which monitors the health of the nation’s rivers, named the Chattahoochee, into which Gwinnett discharges its treated wastewater, one of the nation’s most threatened rivers. And as if all that were not bad enough, Gwinnett is nearing the limits of its existing wastewater treatment capacity.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, led by Chairman Wayne Hill, took an unusual approach to solving the potential dilemma created by this combination of factors.

Recognizing that the region’s water resources are interconnected — that is, one area’s drinking water supply comes from another area’s wastewater discharge — the board of commissioners agreed to build the North Advanced Water Reclamation Facility (AWRF) to provide the county with the wastewater treatment capacity it needed and to protect and enhance the water resources used by others downstream. The concept of beneficial reuse of highly treated wastewater, recently implemented elsewhere in the nation, has not been attempted in the southeast.

The board of commissioners knew permitting and public perception would prove to be significant challenges to overcome.

The state Environmental Protection Division (EPD), the permitting agency for wastewater discharges, has set discharge limits to the Chattahoochee River that are among the most stringent in the nation, and other much-needed infrastructure improvement projects for Gwinnett County had been halted because of poor communication with the public or a lack of opportunities for public participation.

To address the public’s concerns, the commissioners committed to including public participation early and often in planning the facility. The goal for public participation in the AWRF project was twofold: increase the public’s knowledge and understanding of water and wastewater issues and provide real and meaningful opportunities to participate for those who wanted to get involved. Open houses were held in 1995 and 1996 that included interactive display stations, featuring drawings of the proposed facility and diagrams of the treatment processes, a video overview of the project and a computer game to help put the issues in a format the public can understand.

A Citizen’s Advisory Board representing homeowners, residents living near the site, environmental interests, business interests and regional governments was also established.

Additionally, a school program was developed for high school science classes, and a 24-hour telephone and fax line was established for public information and comment on the facility. On Nov. 18, 1996, EPD granted the county’s permit request for the discharge of up to 20 mgd of highly treated reclaimed water to the river at the county’s existing discharge point after a public hearing during which most attendees expressed support of the project.

The county is now moving forward on the design phase. The facility will be located on about 700 acres north of the intersection of two interstate highways, a site specifically selected for the visual buffer that the freeways and existing trees provided.

In fact, a large portion of the site will be set aside to preserve the trees. The site will also feature an education complex where school children can learn about environmental protection through better technology.

The facility will offer both conventional wastewater treatment processes like primary clarification, biological treatment and phosphorous removal, secondary clarification, disinfection and granular filtration, and advanced polishing processes that include high pH lime addition and settling, carbon adsorption and ozonation.

A two-mgd facility will use new membrane processes in which water is forced under pressure through very fine pores to remove contaminants from the water.

Back-up power and ’round-the-clock staffing, as well as emergency storage capacity of 60 million gallons will ensure reliability.

Design criteria of the facility stipulates that water quality standards must be met even if one component or process is out of service.

This article was written by Heather Kunz, community relations specialist, CH2M Hill, Atlanta.