For the

eighth year in a row, the residential and industrial

sewer rates will stay the same for customers of the

Peachtree City Water and Sewerage Authority.

The

authority met in a day-long retreat Saturday and decided

to hold the sewer rates steady, said WASA General Manager

Larry Turner. The residential rates will remain $3.50 per

1,000 gallons up to 10,000 gallons, and above that the

charge drops to $1.75 per 1,000 gallons.

The rate

freeze has been possible because of good budgeting and

few repairs that are needed, Turner said.

Turner also

attributed the freeze in the sewer rates to the WASA

following a solid budget.

At the

retreat, the authority decided to create a new charge to

tack on to industries when they discharge high-strength

wastewater into the sewer treatment system. Most sewer

agencies charge such a fee, but WASA did not because it

previous owner of the sewer system, Georgia Utilities,

had not implemented it, Turner said.

WASA will

now charge 82 cents per pound to treat that material,

Turner said.

All

industries in Peachtree City pre-treat their water to rid

it of some contaminants before they discharge it into the

sewer treatment system, Turner said. That process is

usually cheaper for the company compared to sending water

into the system that needs extra treatment procedures,

especially now that such water will incur a higher

charge.

Currently,

the authority is working with the state Environmental

Protection Division to develop a plan to expand the

Rockaway treatment plant, which releases treated water

into Line Creek, so the Flat Creek treatment plant can be

closed. The Flat Creek plant was originally designed to

be temporary though it has lasted 30 years, Turner added.

Plans to

expand the Rockaway facility also depend on the city

council's decision about the West Village annexation

issue. If that development is not annexed, it would cause

the plant's expansion plans to be scaled down somewhat,

Turner added.

The plant

expansion is estimated to cost approximately $10 million,

and WASA hopes to use a state revolving loan program to

fund the project, Turner said.

The other

projects WASA will oversee in the future is the testing

of sewer lines by running a small video camera inside the

pipes to look for blockages and damages. Once those tests

are "caught up" on all city sewer lines, WASA

plans to have them re-tested every three years, Turner

added.

WASA also

wants to replace a few aging pump stations in the next

three or four years, Turner said.