WQ0004115_2002 Annual Report_20030226

Champion Hills Property Owners Association
Year 2002 Wastewater System Annual Report
The Champion Hills Wastewater System is sanctioned by the North Carolina Department
of Environment and Natural Resources - Division of Water Quality (NCDENR-DWQ) and
operates under Permit numbers WQ0004115 and.NCO087106. These permits define the
conditions under which the Champion Hills' Property Owners Association (POA) must operate
the system and exposes the POA to substantial fines if it does. not comply. ,
In 1999, the State of North Carolina passed legislation requiring all entities that own or
operate wastewater treatment and collection systems to provide annual reports to their customers
describing the systems and summarizing their performance over the past twelve month period.
The purpose of this legislation is to provide a mechanism for user oversight and, hopefully, instill
confidence in the system and its operators. This report for calendar year 2002 has been prepared
in compliance with this requirement.
Description of Systems:
. The Champion Hills' Wastewater System consists of three sub -systems: a Collection
System, a Treatment System and a Disposal System. The Collection and Treatment Systems are
owned and operated by the Champion Hills POA: TheDisposal-System is owned and operated
by the Champion Hills Club under a formal Agreement with the POA.
The Collection System consists of approximately 62'500 linear feet of eight inch
diameter PVC sewer lines, approximately 460 manholes, 8 lift stations and miscellaneous items
such as standby generators, force mains, telemetry, spare parts, etc. As its name implies, the
collection system collects the wastewater from the community and transports it to the treatment
plant for processing.
The Treatment System is'located on a 2.86-acre plot adjacent to the 16'4 fairway. It
consists of a treatment plant, two lift stations, a 700,000 gallon lined effluent holding pond; an
equipment building and a standby generator. The operation of this system is subcontracted to a
state -licensed operator, James and James Environmental Management. Under the terms of the
permit, the operator must visit the facility daily (excluding weekends and holidays) and properly
manage and document daily operations, -including all testing, reporting and other permit
requirements.
The treatment plant is the "heart" of the Treatment System. It has a current throughput
capacity of 70,000 gallons of wastewater per day, but is expandable to 140,000. Raw sewage
(influent) enters the plant at the Equalization basin, through a 4 inch line from the influent lift
station. It is then parceled into one of two 35,000 gpd process trains, each consisting of an
Aeration tank followed by a Clarifier. From the Clarifier, it flows througha. Filter and finally to a
Chlorination Basin. The treated water (effluent) leaves the Chlorination Basin by gravity to a lift

irrigation system operators and applied to the golf course through "selected" sprinklers. The
effluent irrigates the grass and then evaporates or filters through the soil before entering the
ground water system and streams. Few other wastewater systems have the ability to perform this
final filtering operation.
Unfortunately, this golf course application procedure is problematic during colder
months when the ground or sprinkler system is frozen or covered with ice and snow.
Recognizing the difficulties we were having, the State recently granted us permission to discharge
effluent into a nearby stream during the months that these conditions might exist. Our effluent, of
course, is "treated household wastewater" and is of better quality than that which many
municipalities and cities release directly to streams and rivers on a year round basis. As local
streams have greater flow during winter months and as our community production of wastewater
is lowest that time of year, we are confident this procedure will have no harmful effect.
2002 Performance
2002 was good year from an operating standpoint. We experienced no raw sewage spills,
no permit violations and came in well within our operating budget. We attribute this good
performance to the fine team we have managing, maintaining and operating the systems. We did,
however, overrun our capital expenditure budget, but we believe the money was well spent as
indicated later in this report.
During the later part of 2001, the Champion Hills' golf course maintenance department
assumed the responsibilities for managing and maintaining the entire Wastewater System. Prior
to that time, the Collection and Treatment Systems were looked after by the Club's General
Maintenance Supervisor, while the golf course maintenance department handled the Disposal
System only. This change significantly improves the POA's ability to respond to emergencies by
reducing its reliance on outside contractors, while at the same time, allowing us to handle day to
day operations and maintenance more efficiently and reliably. The golf course maintenance
department is well versed in the operation of generators, pumps, pipes, valves, controls, electrical
connections and components and has a variety of equipment with operators at its disposal to
handle the work. Andy Zima, who is responsible for the golf course irrigation system, has been
given the.additional duties of Wastewater Systems Supervisor under the direction of Saeed
Assadzandi, our Golf Course Superintendent. James and James Environmental Management
rounds out the team and continues to do a fine, reliable job operating the treatment plant.
2002 Problems / Deficiencies / Accomplishments: During the past year, we encountered and
addressed a number of problems that needed prompt attention and addressed other issues that may
help us perform better in the future:
A. We continue to experience "Inflow & Infiltration" (I&I) to our collection system
during periods of heavy or extended rain. Although the quantity of I&I is
probably not unusual for a system of our size, it does represent a significant
portion of our treatment plant's capacity and can upset the treatment process.
Finding and correcting sources of I&I remains a priority of our operations. We
have made good progress in past years and will continue these efforts in 2003.
The work involves raising manholes, realigning manhole frames, sealing
manhole or lift station seams, fining broken riser pipes, installing manhole
"dishes", etc. In December of every year, we walk the entire sewer line, pulling

all manhole covers, in search of potential problems. We also try to get out in
periods of heavy rain to try to determine which lines have the heaviest flows and
why.
B. When the Developer built our treatment plant, he provided us with a used army
surplus diesel generator for back up power. The generator -was unreliable, noisy
and produced very dirty emissions. It also required us to store a two day
operating supply of diesel fuel at the plant incase of prolonged power failure.
Last January we replaced that generator with a new natural gas fired unit with
piped in natural gas. The new generator is more reliable, less noisy, cleaner and
has a continuous supply of fuel should a power failure last several days. This is
always a concern during ice storms in the mountains.
C. This past year, we installed telemetry at the four remaining collection system lift
stations. The telemetry radios our 24 hour Security service in case of power or
pump failure. Security then promptly notifies our responders preventing or
limiting raw sewage spills. All collection system lift stations, as well as the
treatment plant, now have telemetry installed as recommended by the State.
D. Two of our eight collection system lift stations located near streams have
permanent standby generators, as a power failure could result in raw sewage
spilling quickly to the streams. For the remaining six stations, we rely on the use
of a portable generator stored in the golf course maintenance building. During
2002 we installed "quick connection devices" at these lift stations to shorten the
time for generator connection.
E. We have recently installed an aeration device (fountain) in the effluent holding
pond. It is similar to the aeration devices in the ponds on the golf course only
smaller. The purpose of these devices is to reduce the growth of algae. Heavy
algae concentrations tend to clog our irrigation pumps and sprinkler heads.
F. We have been experiencing a build up of grease in the lift station adjacent to the
clubhouse. Apparently, water from the dishwasher is too hot to allow grease to
solidify in the clubhouse grease trap. In 2002 we installed a baffle in the trap to
retain the water longer, hoping it would cool sufficiently to release the grease.
,Unfortunately the baffle did not solve the problem. We will continue to research
the situation, but in the meantime will pump the lift station on a regular basis to
prevent grease from going through the pumps and on down the line. Comments
and suggestions from anyone with experience in this area would be appreciated.
G. In past years, we have tried to reduce costs by refurbishing damaged or worn out
lift station pumps. This has proven to be false economy as they never work as
well and have a short life span. Now, unless the damage or repair is minor, we
install only new pumps. We believe this was a positive factor in this year's
overall performance.
H. In 1999, the Champion Hills POA developed, implemented and distributed a
Sewer Ordinance for the community. The ordinance has recently been revised.
Property owners wanting an updated version of this document should contact
Jessica at the Club's Administration office.

Sewage Spills: The State requires that we notify it immediately of raw sewage spills of
any size which reach surface waters (i.e. streams, drainage ditches, etc.) or spills of 1,000
gallons or greater regardless of whether they are contained. We are pleased to advise that
we had no reportable ,spills in year 2002.
Permit Violations: 'As previously mentioned, the operation of the Treatment System is
contracted to James & James Environmental Management (J&J) of Hendersonville. J&J visits the
site five days a week to, among other things,.assure that the plant is operating properly or make
necessary process adjustments, perform the required testing and prepare the necessary reports.
Occasionally, J&J finds that something has gone wrong and the effluent does not meet the
requirements of our permit. This can happen for various reasons, but must be corrected quickly to
prevent environmental damage. Such permit violations must be reported to the State. We are
pleased to. advise that in year 2002 we had no permit such violations.
Notification and Certification:
All Champion Hills' Property Owners and Club Members will be notified in the up -coming issue
of the Champion Hills' monthly publication "Echoes" that this report will be available through
the Champion Hills' Club Administration Office by either stopping in to pick up a copy or by
calling [phone] to receive one by mail. ' .
I certify that this reportis complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. Any questions
pertaining to it should be directed tome at the address or telephone number listed below.
Lee J Weber, Chairman
Champion Hills WWS Committee
4 Barnes Court
Hendersonville, NC 28739
[phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
Issue Date: February 26, 2003
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