Frequently Asked Questions

Questions and answers will be updated to reflect changing interests, concerns, and conditions as the project moves forward between now and 2011, so please visit often.

The Partnership and Facilities
Site Selection
Facility Operations
Environmental Protection and Regulatory Process
Utility Service
Meetings and Public Input
Construction
Pipeline
Geotechnical Investigations

Facility Operations

1. When will the regional facility become operational?

By January 2011 (See Schedule for more details).

2. What hours will this new water reclamation facility operate?

The facility will be staffed and operating 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.

3. Who is the responsible party for these facilities?

The Project Partners—the towns of Apex, Cary, Morrisville, and Holly Springs--selected Cary to be the lead agency for this project. Cary will be responsible for managing the project until all facilities are completed and will then be responsible for operations and maintenance.

4. What is your staffing plan during a nuclear emergency when citizens are asked to evacuate inside the five-mile limit?

Each of the Town of Cary’s water reclamation facilities, as well as the water treatment facility, have written emergency action plans that address the full range of threats and hazards, including nuclear emergencies. While the new water reclamation will have an emergency action plan that will address response procedures for a nuclear emergency, this plan is not yet finalized.

5. What level of noise can I expect near the facility?

Generally, there is no detectable noise from the facility processes heard off-site. There will be an increase in noise from vehicular traffic on the roads adjoining the facility site due to employees traveling to and from the facility. Delivery trucks will arrive periodically at the facility, and there will be trucks hauling away waste biosolids each day.

We invite you to make an appointment to visit one of the Project Partners’ existing facilities to get a better idea of what noise levels and operations are like in the surrounding area.

6. What are the plans for odor control? How often am I going to smell sewage? How far away will I be able to smell it? Does the facility use digesters? If so, is methane gas produced and what will be done with the methane gas?

While most of the time our neighbors will not notice any odor from the facility, odors may be detected from time to time beyond the property line of the facility. How often and how far away they are detected and at what intensity will depend on many factors including proper functioning of the complex biological treatment processes, biosolids treatment and biofilter/scrubber devices, weather conditions such as wind direction and atmospheric inversions, elevation of the site, and the proximity of surrounding communities.  The facility staff is responsible for ensuring proper operation, which minimizes the potential and opportunity for generation of facility odor. We strive for at least 99.9% effectiveness of odor control measures.  This goal equates to the possibility of odor being detectable off-site for less than 10 hours per year.

One of the most important decisions we’re making to control the impacts of odor is purchasing much more land (four times more) than is actually needed for the plant itself so that there will be plenty of buffer around the site. In addition, odor control facilities will be provided at the water reclamation facility for the treatment units with the greatest potential to produce off-site odors.  In addition, odor control facilities will be provided at the two regional raw wastewater pump stations conveying wastewater to the water reclamation facility.

This facility will not have digesters but will use aerobic sludge holding tanks. The sludge will then either be hauled off in either liquid or cake form for further processing such as thermal drying or composting, or sent to a landfill. The aerobic sludge processing method does not produce methane gas.

7. How will the sludge be treated? Will there be ponds? Will it be dried before hauling, or will it be wet?

After sludge is generated through the water reclamation process, it will be processed for 20 days to facilitate further stabilization and reduce the potential for nuisance odor generation, both onsite at the water reclamation facility and offsite at the point of final sludge treatment. During this 20-day period, sludge will be well mixed and well aerated with oxygen in dedicated concrete tanks called aerobic sludge holding tanks. These tanks are specially designed and constructed for this purpose.  Ponds will not be used for sludge processing or storage.

The mixed and aerated sludge will then be hauled offsite as either a liquid for thermal drying or as a cake for composting or landfill disposal. The decision about whether it will be hauled wet or dry will be made during the design process, based on technical, environmental, odor impact, and cost considerations. Ultimately, the sludge will be suitable for reuse as a beneficial product—for example, as a soil amendment or fertilizer for residential gardens and landscaping.

8. How much sludge--how many tons, how many trucks?

The initial capacity of the water reclamation facility will be 18 million gallons per day (mgd). At this flow rate, it is estimated that the water reclamation facility will produce approximately 31,600 pounds (about 16 tons) of sludge per day. As a liquid material, this equates to approximately 10 trucks per day. As a solid (cake material) this equates to approximately two trucks per day. When the facility starts up in January 2011, the flow rate is expected to be about 9 mgd, which would result in about five trucks per day of liquid sludge or one truck per day of cake material.

9. What route will the sludge be carried and where will it go? Is the infrastructure adequate to handle the traffic?

The precise route that trucks will travel to and from the facility is an operational consideration that will be defined during design. The Project Partners recognize that truck traffic is a potential concern for people near the water reclamation facility site. Minimizing impacts to neighboring communities and ensuring the adequacy of the infrastructure to support the sludge disposal traffic will be key criteria when selecting an optimum truck route. The two final sludge treatment options selected by the Project Partners are thermal drying and composting—both of which will be conducted offsite. In addition, the Project Partners may elect to haul the sludge to a landfill for disposal. For all of these options, the truck traffic would leave the facility using US-1, and traffic is not planned to be routed through the intersection of Old US-1 and New Hill-Holleman Road.

10. Will the sludge have a high concentration of heavy metals?

No. The Project Partners intend to provide a level of treatment and pollutant monitoring so that the sludge can be reused as a beneficial product—such as a soil amendment or fertilizer for residential gardens and landscaping. The Project Partners will monitor the quality of the sludge to ensure that it does not contain unacceptably high concentrations of heavy metals, as defined by strict federal regulatory requirements for such uses.

11. What are the potential hazards to well water? Will local wells be monitored for any contamination? If wells are found to be contaminated, will pure water be supplied free to any affected homes?

Water resources impacts, including groundwater impacts, are being addressed in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Potential groundwater impacts, including potential hazards to well water, and possible mitigation measures will be addressed in the EIS. There are currently no plans for monitoring local wells for contamination, but the Partners will work with North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources during the EIS process to address any concerns about local wells.

12. What chemicals are used at the water reclamation facility?

Chemicals used at the facility will include ferric chloride, polymer, sodium hydroxide, and methanol. These are commonly used chemicals at other water reclamation facilities in Wake County.

13. What kind of security will the facility have to help keep neighbors safe?

The entire facility site will be fenced with an automatic gate controlled remotely.

14. What happens if the pumps fail? How many back-up pumps are there?

All of the critical treatment processes at the facility will have at least one back-up pump, and each of these processes must be able to meet process requirements with the largest pump out of service. There will also be a backup electrical power supply to operate the entire treatment system should the commercial electrical power fail. State agencies review and approve all backup plans during the permitting process.

15. What kind of monitoring systems will be put in place to prevent sewer system overflows? How will groundwater contamination be prevented under normal operation and in the event of spills ?

Chosen by the Project Partners to operate the new system, Town of Cary staff will visit and inspect the two pump stations daily, and any potential problems will be identified and addressed. A remote monitoring an alarm system will immediately notify operations staff of any problems through a remote communication and control system. In addition, permits issued by NCDENR will define the operations, maintenance, monitoring, inspections, and reporting practices that are to be implemented by the Town to reduce the potential for spills from the collection system as well as the procedures to be taken in the event that a spill occurs. Spills are cleaned up immediately to minimize contamination to ground or surface waters.

16. How might the plant affect nearby property values?

In Cary's experience, property values do not seem to be negatively impacted
by wastewater plants.

Homes in the new Park at West Lake subdivision that abuts the South Cary
WRF along its northern property line are selling in the mid to low $300,000's.

Property at Weston where the Black Creek greenway is being apparently sold for $1,968,000 for 22.39 acres or $87,900/acre. This is across Old Reedy Creek Road and approximately 650 feet from the North Cary WRF ("A" on the attached aerial photo). A tract that abuts the North Cary WRF on the south side sold for $657,500 in June 2000 which prorates to $104,000/acre ("B" on the photo). The tract identified as "C" sold for $1,776,500 in September 2001 which equates to $128,800/acre. The tax value alone for the Embassy Suites Hotel is $31,590,000 which abuts the North Cary WRF to the east ("D"). This hotel was built long after the plant had been in operation.