Saya Ann Qualls

Hamilton County’s Water and Wastewater Treatment Authority has to clean up its act, according to an order from state environmental regulators.

The local system is in the same category as sewer authorities in Knoxville, Nashville, Memphis’ Shelby County and many areas in between.

“(Sewer problems) are common throughout the nation,” said Saya Ann Qualls, chief engineer for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s Division of Water Pollution Control. “We have aging infrastructure of all types.”

Data provided by the department show that 68 publicly owned treatment works in Tennessee are under some type of order to get their systems up to standards.

“It’s a utility-by-utility approach,” Ms. Qualls said.

Observers such as Hamilton County Commissioner Richard Casavant predict that utilities not already ordered to fix their sewers may get those orders.

“It’s fairly likely that the city of Chattanooga will be facing this soon,” he said.

Jerry Stewart, Chattanooga’s waste resources director, said the city is working hard to “be proactive about doing things” before a TDEC order comes down. He said an order probably would come “at some point in time.”

A Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations study released in March noted that many systems are on their last legs.

“Many sewer lines are 40 to 50 years old or older and are approaching the end of their useful lives,” states the executive summary of the study, titled “Corroding and Failing Sewer Lines: How Big a Problem?”

Increasing populations also are a factor, according to the report, because many systems were built before the rapid growth during the past couple of decades.

TDEC’s order against Hamilton County’s treatment authority cites the authority for dumping excess water from the Signal Mountain Sewage Treatment Plant into the Tennessee River. The order carries a $25,000 fine and $232,000 in possible additional fines.

The plant was taking in more than it could handle during big rains, authority officials have said.

TDEC SOLUTION?

State regulators instituted programs that it calls maintenance, operation and management, or MOM. The programs must include inspection procedures, maintenance procedures, training guidelines and a policy for dealing with deficiencies, according to the order.

As part of that MOM program, the Hamilton County Wastewater Treatment Authority must inspect pipes for cracks or other openings in the countywide system where rainwater could get in.

Smoke tests — in which white smoke is sent through pipes and comes out through cracks and openings — have uncovered some problems.

To do the inspections and make repairs, the authority has approved an $8 monthly fee for 24,000 gravity sewer customers, but the implementation of that fee has been delayed until at least another board meeting can be held. County commissioners and some municipal government officials have objected to the fee, saying it is unfair.

How utilities pay for improvements is up to them, Ms. Qualls said. But if they’re under an order from TDEC, most have to make them or face the fines, she said.

Utilities not under order can set up MOM programs, but it’s voluntary, she said.

Whatever method local governments and utility boards use to pay for sewer improvements, it’s not going to be cheap, according to the advisory commission’s report.

“The total amount of water and wastewater projects needed in all counties will cost nearly $3.2 billion,” the report states. “Of course, any kind of sudden sewer line failure is impossible to project. It is, therefore, likely that more costs can be anticipated, though not projected.”