Though the

final agreement hasn't been inked yet, the Peachtree City Water and Sewerage

Authority plans to help the Fayette County Commission out of a bind by

agreeing to treat the county's septage.

Attorneys for

both entities are putting the finishing touches on a contract for the

service, which has the county paying an estimated $150,000 to install

special septage-treating facilities at WASA's Rockaway treatment plant.

Septage is

the residue waste pumped out of septic tanks. Currently, Fayette's septage

is taken to Clayton County for treatment, but Clayton officials have said

they don't wish to do so in the future, WASA General Manager Larry Turner

told the authority at its meeting Tuesday night. Another option is for

haulers to take it to Meriwether County for disposal, but that is costly

to septic haulers, Turner said.

And sometimes,

septage is dumped into WASA's sewer system illegally by waste haulers,

Turner said.

Fayette County

does not have its own sewer system, creating the need to partner with

an entity that does.

Under the agreement,

WASA would only accept septage from Fayette County ... not from other

counties, Turner added.

Plans call

for WASA to charge septic waste haulers for the service and tack on an

additional $25 fee which will be paid to the county to offset the cost

of the structure. Such fees per load in the metro Atlanta area range from

$120 to $200, Turner said.

The service

won't actually begin for about two years once the sewer system expansion

project is complete, noted Turner.

Although WASA

member Steve Bradley had some concerns about the billing system, he was

reminded that the Fayette County Water System performs WASA's billing.

And Turner added that there would only be about five or six companies

WASA would be billing for the service.

"This

puts no burden on the authority or any of its employees," Turner

said. "But the good will it creates is priceless."

The authority

tabled the matter until its next meeting so it may review a finalized

version of the contract.

Back

to News Home Page | Back

to the top of the page