NC0039578_NOV-2019-LV-0856 Response_20191205

TUCKASEIGEE WATER & SEWER AUTHORITY
SERVING JACKSON COUNTY
1246 West Main Street
Sylva, NC 28779
Phone: (828) 586,5189 • Fax: [phone]
Nov 26th, 2019 D 1
NCDEQ/ARO T 2019
Div. of Water Resources
2090 US 70 Hwy Water Quality Regional OperatlonS
Swannanoa, NC 28778 Asheville Regional Office
Subject: Response to NOV-2019-LV-0855 &
NOV-2019-LV-0856
Permit # NCO039578
TWSA Plant #1
Jackson County
Attn: G. Landon Davidson
Dear Mr. Davidson
The Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority has reviewed the cause of the NPDES permit
violations that occurred during the months of August and Sept 2019. The violation was
identified as a violation of the weekly permitted Fecal Coliform limits the week of Aug 19`n-
24`n, and a violation of the monthly permitted Fecal Coliform values for Sept 2019.
This timeline and explanation is hereby submitted to help clarify the conditions that resulted in
the violations.
July- Aug -Sep, 2019
The mixer on SBR #1 was out of service for repair to a bearing. At the time we had a
really good settling sludge and some of the best water we had produced on the effluent. I had
steadily decreased the waste rate from SBR #1 due to lowering levels of mixed liquor, finally
cutting it off completely on July 10a'. I believe that the sludge was settling out below the level
of the diffusers in the SBR #1 and not being brought back into suspension due to the mixer
being out for repair.
Starting on the 16'' of August the septic sludge lying on the bottom started gassing and
coming back into suspension. Due to poor settleability, the eff began to show signs of
deterioration. Fine solids in the eff along with decreasing chlorine levels caused elevated fecal
coliform numbers the week of Aug 19`n_241n
In Sep a bad bearing on the auger that feeds the sludge to the dryer necessitated shutting
down the dryer until repairs could be made. This resulted in an inability to waste as much
sludge as was needed to maintain eff quality. At around the same time we noticed we couldn't
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chlorinate properly. We could not feed enough chlorine to properly disinfect the effluent.
Eventually two separate chlorine line leaks were discovered but not before it impacted
disinfection enough to be out of compliance with permitted levels of fecal coliform in Sept.
These problems individually would probably not have impacted water quality to a non-
compliance level, but all of them together produced a "perfect storm" that caused the
violations. TWSA staff worked longer hours and performed additional testing to try and
maintain compliance but the efforts were not successful.
I hope this is a sufficient explanation for the root causes of the violations. The facility is
currently back in compliance and operating well within permitted levels.
Please contact me with any questions or comments.
2SincerC
L(�,
Stan Bryson
Wastewater Plant Operations Superintendent
Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority
xc: Mr Dan Schaeffer, Interim Executive Director, TWSA