Water board OKs river discharge

Waste Water should not be allow to discharge to the ground or sea or Lakes, unless is processed, with the harmful contaminants removed..

Water board OKs river discharge

By Bryan Brooks bryan.brooks@gwinnettdailypost.com

LAWRENCEVILLE — A board charged with overseeing metro Atlanta’s water supply has endorsed a temporary plan that would let Gwinnett put more wastewater in the Chattahoochee River.
Gwinnett is asking the state for permission to send 9 million gallons of highly treated sewage per day to the river on its western border, but state regulators cannot approve the discharge unless it complies with regional water plans.
With that in mind, officials who direct a 16-county water planning agency changed their long-range plans last week so Gwinnett can get the permit from the state Environmental Protection Division.
EPD is still reviewing Gwinnett’s permit request and will issue a draft permit and take public comment in early 2005.
“We’re still fairly early in the review process,” said EPD spokesman Kevin Chambers.
Gwinnett needs the temporary river permit because it’s expanding the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center near Buford, and so far litigation has blocked efforts to send the additional wastewater to Lake Lanier.
For that reason, it’s unlikely a pipeline to the lake can be built before the county’s population and business growth outstrips the plant’s current capacity, which means the county must find an alternate discharge point.
“The permit would help us bridge the time while we are under construction with the reclaimed water pipeline to Lake Lanier,” said Frank Stephens a deputy director at the Gwinnett Public Utilities Department.
Even before growth requires the extra capacity, the county would like to be able to use the $400 million plant expansion so it can treat less wastewater at older plants across the county, Stephens said. Read More....
Water board OKs river discharge