Water works: Small sewage systems worry some
Kathleen Carey, Of the Times Staff
April 9, 2006
Like to gamble? Well, if you live in a part of Delaware County that gets its drinking water from the Springton Lake Reservoir, soon all youll have to do is fill a glass from the faucet. That's the concern of some officials, who say sewage from less-regulated, smaller sewage-treatment plants can seep into the ground and make its way to the reservoir.
Although filters are in place there to remove many contaminants, some people believe others may still trickle into the drinking-water supply.
However, others such as Aqua Pennsylvania, which owns the reservoir,say there are enough safeguards in place that have prevented and will continue to avert that scenario. Company officials say no one has more of a stake in safe drinking water than they do and they constantly strive to keep it that way as they prepare to own and operate a sewage treatment plant at the Garrett-Williamsson tract.
Nether Providence environmentalist Sherry Schaefer is concerned about the sewage treatment plants above the reservoir.
Schaefer said there are six plants above the reservoir that are permitted to discharge into the streams and the aquifer, and there is the potential for more to come as that area becomes more developed.
"There's 350,000 people that drink that water in Delaware County," Schaefer said. "They're going to put this (fecal matter) in our reservoir and sell it to us as drinking water."
Her suggestion, backed by those at Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority (DELCORA), would be for Newtown, Upper Providence and Edgmont to join the Central Delaware County Authority.
That authority could, in turn, hook up to the existing Crum Creek interceptor, which would move the sewage down to DELCORA's Chester plant to discharge into the Delaware River.
That option continues to stall, however, while Newtown and Edgmont move ahead to provide sewage treatment to their residents by constructing a 330,000-gallon-a-day drip irrigation facility.
DELCORA handles 70 million gallons of waste daily for 40 Delaware County municipalities, which is split into eastern and western regions.
Of that total, 30 million gallons from the eastern region is sent to Philadelphia for processing and the remaining 40 million is sent to the authority's wastewater treatment plant off Route 291.
"We're currently trying to rerate it," said Mike DiSantis, director of operations and maintenance. "We're confident that they'll rerate the facility to 50 million."
The sewage is pumped through a force main to the 14-acre Chester plant, where it's first removed of grit as the fast-moving waters hit the sides of the tank and a majority of the solids sink to the bottom.
Then, the water moves to the primary clarifiers where, again, the heavy material settles and the lighter substance is automatically skimmed off the top.
From there, the water is pumped to four 19-foot-deep fine bubble aeration tanks. The bottoms of the tanks are lined with 550-horsepower blowers that blow air into the water, creating microorganisms that clean the water.
DeSantis explained it's an $8 million improvement over the mixers that were previously there. And, similar to their name, the mixers circulated the water around to introduce air into the system, but it was difficult for air to reach all of the water in the tanks and the mixing system created residual spray.
Sensors in the tanks measure the oxygen levels and speed or slow the blowers based on what's needed for optimum cleansing, DeSantis said.
From there, the liquid is sent to 12-million-gallon secondary clarifier tanks, where solids settle and the rest is treated with chlorine before being dumped in the river.
In all of the stages, sludge is taken back to the on-site incinerator and the ash is taken to landfills.
One of the benefits of being a larger operation, DeSantis explained, is maintaining state-mandated standards as the plant is monitored 24 hours a day and automation ensures that the system is effective.
"(We want) to make sure the quality of water we're putting out there is above and beyond standard," DeSantis said.
Pointing to the geese and ducks congregating at the discharge site, he added, "They like that water because it's cleaner. Fish and bugs congregate there. It's like a little ecosystem. The water we put in the Delaware is cleaner than the river water."
And, DELCORA's executive director Joseph Salvucci said, "Nobody's drinking downflow from the Delaware River."
Robert A. Powell, DELCORA's business development and strategic planning manager, said there are 64 permitted sewage treatment plants throughout Delaware County.
Of that, 49, or 75 percent, process less than 100,000 gallons per day.
Twenty-two, Powell said, process quantities as small as 400 gallons per day and they operate unmanned. Nine of those, he added, are in Upper Providence alone.
"These requirements are not as stringent as the bigger plants," he said, "and some people may have concerns."
Six years ago, Clean Water Action was one of those. It remains watchful of the situation today.
"I think the Springton Lake Reservoir has a lot of pressure on it with discharges and runoffs from all the development that happened around it," said Robert Wendelgass, the agency's state director.
They say smaller plants are not held to the same standard as the larger ones, and agencies like Clean Water Action question the long-term effects of drinking water in the event of proliferation of these smaller facilities.
In a release dated Oct. 2, 2000, Clean Water Action cited Dr. Julie Becker, a public health professional, as she relied on Environmental Protection Agency warnings that "microbial contaminants are the greatest remaining health risk management challenge for drinking water suppliers."
DELCORA officials themselves acknowledged the difficulty in ridding the water of certain types of contaminants.
The main concern of wastewater treatment specialists is the presence of Giardia and Cryptosporidium.
Generally, Wendelgass said, Giardia can be killed through chlorine treatments, but Cryptosporidium cannot. That, he explained, requires very fine mesh filters not currently in place in most water treatment facilities.
As Cryptosporidium seeps into the water system, the effects can be severe.
Healthy people who drink Cryptosporidium-laced water can experience cholera-like symptoms: diarrhea, headache, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever.
For those with compromised immune systems, drinking the same water can lead to liver, respiratory tract, gall bladder or pancreas damage, or death.
"It's not something to take lightly," Wendelgass said.
With that in mind and with development plans such as the Rouse Group's proposal for 199 single-family homes or a 650-unit age-restricted facility for the 416-acre duPont tract in Newtownbeing proposed, increasing sewage treatment capabilities in that area needs to be addressed.
DELCORA officials say the Central Delaware County Authority should hook up to the Crum Creek interceptor, so sewage can be pumped to the Chester plant.
Salvucci said the original plan that charted sewage treatment throughout the county, the Act 537 plan, outlined just that.
And, after that, the authority sponsored various studies determining that hooking into the Crum Creek interceptor would be beneficial for that area.
The problem is the line was installed, but has deteriorated because of its lack of use.
James Bryne, the Central Delaware County Authority's solicitor, said his agency plans to allot capital to repair the interceptor.
The authority also hired an engineer, he said, to complete a study of various options to treat sewage in the Newtown/Upper Providence area.
And, he added, a committee was formed to identify what needs to be done, what is the next step and how will the costs of the chosen method be handled by new and existing customers.
That committee is expected to present its results at the next Central Delaware County Authority meeting on Tuesday 5:30 p.m. at Rutledge Borough Hall.
"Newtown and Upper Providence have approached CDCA and would like to come into the system," Bryne said. "They would like to get in. It's moving along."
He agreed that the multiplication of smaller sewage treatment systems could pose a problem to the Springton Lake Reservoir and he said his authority is looking into eliminating the smaller systems in favor of tying into a larger one.
Bryne explained that the authority must construct a way to make it economically feasible for existing members, although he said he realized Newtown and Upper Providence would like to see the issue move faster.
Dennis Harney, spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection, said Edgmont and Newtown are finalizing their plans to apply to build a sewage treatment plant with Aqua Pennsylvania in that area using drip irrigation.
He said he estimates an application could be submitted in the next two to three months.
That, Harney said, would be evaluated by DEP to see if it would impact the Springton Lake Reservoir, but preliminary studies of the soil's ability to absorb the irrigation show it would not.
Another issue of hooking up to the interceptor, Wendelgass explained, is removing the water out of the Crum Creek watershed.
In a perfect world, he said, the best alternative is to not discharge. However, he said spray or drip irrigation could keep the water in its area of origin.
But that also has its drawbacks.
"The bad news is the more and more Delaware County gets developed, the less you'll be able to do spray or drip irrigation," Wendelgass said.
Facilitating the Chester/Delaware River option could work, Powell said, as the water would remain in the larger area watershed.
Besides, he added, "You'd need two Delaware Counties to spray irrigate Delaware County."
In addition, Powell said, smaller plants cost more money to operate.
For example, customers in Chester pay $220 in sewage fees compared to $850 in Chadds Ford, $750 in the Springton Lake area and $300 in Upper Providence.
Salvucci said activating the Crum Creek interceptor makes sense.
"This is reasonable," he said. "This line is already here, so I don't know what the hold-up is. They have people who desperately need sewers."
Schaefer suggested that the central authority create a new sewer district, charging $400 to $600 per home, to offset the costs of fixing the interceptor.
"What you do affects your neighbors," she said. "We have a plant, let's let the people get to it. Let's make a cleaner environment for our children."
