There were

few surprises in the watershed assessment conducted on the Peachtree City

area, according to WASA General Manager Larry Turner.

Plant operator

Susan Johnson is quick to correct him, however, adding that the big surprise

was how good the water quality was leaving Peachtree City.

"Peachtree

City has pretty good erosion control enforcement," Johnson said,

explaining one of the reasons behind the improved water quality leaving

the city. "That can degrade the quality of a stream very quickly."

The assessment

was required by state environmental regulators as part of the city's application

for expansion of the sewer system. It measured water quality at several

points coming into and out of Peachtree City, Turner explained.

The few problems

that cropped up were in items that the city cannot control, he added.

The study did

show low pH levels in certain areas, but that's because those areas are

near wetlands, Turner said. The wetlands are also the culprit behind the

low levels of dissolved oxygen found in the water, he said.

Some presence

of fecal coliform bacteria was also found, but that was likely due to

animal waste that washed into the streams, Turner added.

Nothing tested

positive in the 129 pollutants that were tested for, Turner said. Those

tests looked for, among other pollutants, the presence of pesticides and

herbicides.

But some naturally

occurring metals were found in the water, he said.

"We did

have some high zinc numbers, but that's a naturally occurring metal in

the soil," Turner said.