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Home My WebLink AboutNCG550783_Compliance Evaluation Inspection_20220505 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27609 919.791.4200 May 5, 2022 Victor Pickard 1403 Farmview Road Hillsborough, NC 27278 Subject: Compliance Evaluation Inspection Single Family Wastewater Treatment System General NPDES Permit NCG550000 Certificate of Coverage NCG550783 Facility: 5620 Blue Spruce Drive Durham County Dear Mr. Pickard: On May 2, 2022, Stephanie Goss from the Raleigh Regional Office visited your single-family residence (SFR) wastewater treatment system to evaluate compliance with the subject General NPDES Permit. You were contacted to schedule an inspection via telephone and the number is no longer in service and a mailed letter with no response. Our records indicate the treatment system consists of a septic tank, Advantex sand filter, UV disinfection and discharge pipe. General NPDES Permit NCG550000 and Certificate of Coverage (COC) NCG550783 authorize the discharge of domestic wastewater from your treatment system to receiving waters designated as an unnamed tributary to Crooked Creek classified a WS-IV, Nutrient Sensitive Waters (NSW) in the Neuse River Basin. The authorized discharge is in accordance with the effluent limits and monitoring requirements established within the General Permit. Findings during the inspection were as follows: 1. Treatment system operation: The wastewater treatment system shall be maintained at all times to prevent seepage of sewage to the surface of the ground. 2. Pumping the septic tank: You are required to inspect the septic tank at least yearly to determine if solids must be removed or if other maintenance is necessary. Septic tanks should be pumped out every five years or when the solids level is found to be more than 1/3 of the liquid depth in the septic tank compartment, whichever is greater. A pumping company can check the status periodically and determine when pumping is required. Within 30-days of receiving this letter, please send a copy of the most recent receipt/invoice to this office showing the date the septic tank was last checked and/or pumped out. The General NPDES Permit requires the permittee to retain records associated with sewage disposal activities for a period of at least 5 years. DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27609 919.791.4200 Page | 2 3. UV Disinfection: Your system uses an ultra-violet (UV) light system for disinfection of the discharged wastewater. New rules put into place on August 1, 2007 require all SFR systems to have a means of disinfection (and dechlorination when chlorine tablets are used to disinfect, if the system was installed since that date). A UV disinfection system provides effective disinfection and prevents/limits harmful bacteria from discharging to the environment. Unless the UV disinfection unit is monitored by telemetry, the unit shall be checked weekly. The lamp(s) and quartz sleeve(s) shall be cleaned or replaced as needed to ensure proper disinfection of the discharged wastewater. Please ensure the UV disinfection unit is properly operated and maintained to ensure optimal performance. 4. Analyzing the effluent: Part 1. C., Effluent Limitations and Monitoring Requirements, within General Permit NCG550000 requires a permittee to sample and analyze the effluent leaving his/her treatment system prior to discharge annually. Parameters to be sampled and analyzed include Flow, BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand), Total Suspended Solids, Fecal Coliform, Total Residual Chlorine, Total Nitrogen, Ammonia Nitrogen and Total Phosphorous. Within 30-days of receiving this letter, please let this office know if you have monitored your effluent discharge within the last 12 months and provide this office with a copy of the lab results if you have. If you have not monitored your effluent, then please collect a representative sample of the effluent, have it analyzed by a certified commercial laboratory and submit the results to this office no later than August 31, 2022. If, during this time, you are unable to collect a representative sample of the effluent discharge due to insufficient flow from the discharge pipe, then update this office with that information and continue to monitor the discharge and if conditions for sampling become favorable, then arrange to collect a sample. Failure to monitor the effluent discharge as required is a violation of NPDES General Permit NCG550000. 5. Discharge outlet location. The permittee is required to conduct a visual review of the outfall location at least twice each year (one at the time of sampling) to ensure that no visible solids or other obvious evidence of system malfunctioning is observed. Any visible signs of a malfunctioning system shall be documented, and steps taken to correct the problem. The end of discharge pipe was not visible nor accessible the day of the inspection. To comply with the general permit monitoring requirements, you need to be able to sample and analyze the effluent from your SFR system through the discharge pipe. You need to keep the area around the discharge pipe cleared of vegetation, soil and leaves. Please take the necessary steps to ensure the discharge outlet is visible and accessible. Maintaining the area will allow you to monitor the discharge and to collect effluent samples as required by the subject permit. Division records indicate the required annual fee ($60 per year) for the period ending February 28, 2010 and due December 2, 2021 has been paid. There are no overdue fees for the subject COC. The wastewater treatment system should be periodically inspected to ensure the treatment components are always maintained and in good operating order. You are also reminded to maintain all monitoring data and associated maintenance records onsite for a minimum of three years and available for inspection. DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Division of Water Resources Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27609 919.791.4200 Page | 3 Within 30-days receipt of this letter, please submit a written response to this office indicating the actions you will take or have taken to comply with or resolve the issues noted items 2-5 above. If you have questions or comments about this inspection or the requirements to take corrective action (if applicable), then please contact via email at stephanie.goss@ncdenr.gov or 919-791- 4256. Sincerely, Vanessa E. Manuel Assistant Regional Supervisor Water Quality Regional Operations Section Raleigh Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ Attachment(s): EPA Water Compliance Inspection Report Cc: RRO/SWP Files Laserfiche DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C. 20460 Water Compliance Inspection Report Form Approved. OMB No. 2040-0057 Approval expires 8-31-98 Section A: National Data System Coding (i.e., PCS) Transaction Code NPDES yr/mo/day Inspection Type Inspector Fac Type 1 N 52 NCG550783 22/05/02 C S31112171819 20 21 66 Inspection Work Days Facility Self-Monitoring Evaluation Rating B1 QA ----------------------Reserved------------------- N67707172 73 74 75 80 Section B: Facility Data Name and Location of Facility Inspected (For Industrial Users discharging to POTW, also include POTW name and NPDES permit Number) 5620 Blue Spruce Drive 5620 Blue Spruce Dr Durham NC 27712 Entry Time/Date Permit Effective Date Exit Time/Date Permit Expiration Date 12:08PM 22/05/02 21/08/19 Name(s) of Onsite Representative(s)/Titles(s)/Phone and Fax Number(s) /// Other Facility Data 12:17PM 22/05/02 25/10/31 Name, Address of Responsible Official/Title/Phone and Fax Number Victor Pickard,1403 Farm View Rd Hillsborough NC 27278//919-417-8417/Contacted No Section C: Areas Evaluated During Inspection (Check only those areas evaluated) Operations & Maintenance Records/Reports Self-Monitoring Program Facility Site Review Effluent/Receiving Waters Section D: Summary of Finding/Comments (Attach additional sheets of narrative and checklists as necessary) (See attachment summary) Name(s) and Signature(s) of Inspector(s)Agency/Office/Phone and Fax Numbers Date Stephanie Goss DWR/RRO WQ/919-791-4200/ Signature of Management Q A Reviewer Agency/Office/Phone and Fax Numbers Date EPA Form 3560-3 (Rev 9-94) Previous editions are obsolete. Page#1 5/5/2022 DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 5/5/2022 NPDES yr/mo/day 22/05/02 Inspection Type C3111218 1 Section D: Summary of Finding/Comments (Attach additional sheets of narrative and checklists as necessary) NCG550783 17 Page#2 DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 Permit:NCG550783 Inspection Date:05/02/2022 Owner - Facility: Inspection Type: 5620 Blue Spruce Drive Compliance Evaluation Operations & Maintenance Yes No NA NE Is the plant generally clean with acceptable housekeeping? Does the facility analyze process control parameters, for ex: MLSS, MCRT, Settleable Solids, pH, DO, Sludge Judge, and other that are applicable? Comment: Record Keeping Yes No NA NE Are records kept and maintained as required by the permit? Is all required information readily available, complete and current? Are all records maintained for 3 years (lab. reg. required 5 years)? Are analytical results consistent with data reported on DMRs? Is the chain-of-custody complete? Dates, times and location of sampling Name of individual performing the sampling Results of analysis and calibration Dates of analysis Name of person performing analyses Transported COCs Are DMRs complete: do they include all permit parameters? Has the facility submitted its annual compliance report to users and DWQ? (If the facility is = or > 5 MGD permitted flow) Do they operate 24/7 with a certified operator on each shift? Is the ORC visitation log available and current? Is the ORC certified at grade equal to or higher than the facility classification? Is the backup operator certified at one grade less or greater than the facility classification? Is a copy of the current NPDES permit available on site? Facility has copy of previous year's Annual Report on file for review? Comment: Effluent Pipe Yes No NA NE Is right of way to the outfall properly maintained? Are the receiving water free of foam other than trace amounts and other debris? If effluent (diffuser pipes are required) are they operating properly? Page#3 DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 Permit:NCG550783 Inspection Date:05/02/2022 Owner - Facility: Inspection Type: 5620 Blue Spruce Drive Compliance Evaluation Effluent Pipe Yes No NA NE The effluent pipe was not visible during the inspection.Comment: Disinfection - UV Yes No NA NE Are extra UV bulbs available on site? Are UV bulbs clean? Is UV intensity adequate? Is transmittance at or above designed level? Is there a backup system on site? Is effluent clear and free of solids? Comment: Septic Tank Yes No NA NE (If pumps are used) Is an audible and visual alarm operational? Is septic tank pumped on a schedule? Are pumps or syphons operating properly? Are high and low water alarms operating properly? Comment: Sand Filters (Low rate)Yes No NA NE (If pumps are used) Is an audible and visible alarm Present and operational? Is the distribution box level and watertight? Is sand filter free of ponding? Is the sand filter effluent re-circulated at a valid ratio? # Is the sand filter surface free of algae or excessive vegetation? # Is the sand filter effluent re-circulated at a valid ratio? (Approximately 3 to 1) Comment: Effluent Sampling Yes No NA NE Is composite sampling flow proportional? Is sample collected below all treatment units? Is proper volume collected? Is the tubing clean? Page#4 DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48 Permit:NCG550783 Inspection Date:05/02/2022 Owner - Facility: Inspection Type: 5620 Blue Spruce Drive Compliance Evaluation Effluent Sampling Yes No NA NE # Is proper temperature set for sample storage (kept at less than or equal to 6.0 degrees Celsius)? Is the facility sampling performed as required by the permit (frequency, sampling type representative)? Comment: Page#5 DocuSign Envelope ID: 97A898A5-3909-4842-829F-4D7AE8797C48