WQ0004115_2004 Annual Report_20050226

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ROPERTY WNERS INC.
February 26, 2005
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System Performance Annual Report
NCDENR-DWQ.. - .
1617 Mail Service.Center.
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Raleigh, NC 27699-1617
Re: 2004 Annual Report
Champion Hills Property Owners Association
Henderson County, NC
Permit Nos. WQ0004115 & NCO087106
Gentlemen:
In accordance with the state of North Carolina's requirements, we are pleased to,attach three
copies of our ;Wastewater System Annual Operating Performance Report for calendar year 2004.
As indicated in this report, all property_owners of Champion Hills Golf Community will be
notified of the report's availability through the March issue of the community's monthly
newsletter. The.newsletter will state:
The State of North Carolina requires all permittees for wastewater systems to
make reports available to their users summarizing their systems' performance over the
past twelve months. The purpose of this requirementls' to provide a mechanism for user
oversight and, hopefully, instill confidence in the system and its operators.
In addition, the State requires all permittees to adopt and implement a sewer
ordinance for all users of the system.•The Champion Hills Sewer Ordinance was
implemented on July 1, 1999 and is periodically updated as necessary.
Both the Champion Hills' Performance Report for calendar year 2004 and the current
Sewer Ordinance are now available from the Club office and can be obtained by either
stopping in or by calling Jessica at [phone] to receive copies by mail.
Please advise if you have any questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Lee J. Weber
Chairman, Champion Hills WWS Committee
Cc. with attachment DENR-DWQ, Asheville, ttn. Mr. Roy Davis & Ms Beverly Price'
I HAGEN DRIVE / HENDERSONVILLE, NC 28739-8964 / [phone] / FAx [phone]
E-MAIL - [e-mail]

Champion Hills Property Owners Association
Year 2004 Wastewater System Annual Report
Applicable Permits: WQ0004115 & NCO087106
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 Spray Irrigation System Permit WQ0004115 and National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System Permit NC0087106. These permits define the conditions under which the
Champion Hills' Property Owners Association (POA) must operate the system and expose 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 their system and its operators. This report for calendar year 2004 has been prepared
in compliance with that legislation.
Description of System:
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. The Disposal 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 480 manholes, 8 lift stations and miscellaneous items
such as controls, 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`' fairway. It
consists of a treatment plant, two lift stations, a 700,000 gallon lined effluent holding pond, a
building housing various pieces of equipment & controls, 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 140,000gpd. Raw sewage
(influent) enters the plant at the Equalization Basin through a 4 inch line from an influent lift
station. The Equalization Basin first serves as the primary settling tank where heavy solids fall
out and then parcels the flow into two 35,000 gpd process trains, each consisting of an Aeration
tank followed by a Clarifier. From the Clarifier, the partially processed sewage flows through a
Filter and finally to a Chlorination Basin. The treated water (effluent) leaves the Chlorination

Basin by gravity, flows through a dechlorination device, and then to a lift station where, during
warmer months, is pumped to the 700,000 gallon membrane lined holding pond for eventual use
in irrigating the golf course and, during colder months, is discharged directly to a nearby stream.
The warmer month Disposal System is essentially a portion of the golf course irrigation
system. During these months, effluent is pumped from the holding pond by the club's state trained
and licensed irrigation system operators and applied to the golf course through "selected"
sprinklers that don't permit runoff to nearby streams. The effluent irrigates the grass and then
either evaporates or filters through the soil before entering the ground water system and streams.
Most wastewater systems do not have the ability to perform this final filtering operation and,
consequently, must discharge directly to waterways. Champion Hills' residents can be proud of
this environmentally responsible way to use its effluent.
Unfortunately, the golf course application procedure can be problematic during wet or
colder periods when the ground is saturated, frozen or covered with snow. Recognizing the
problems unique to mountainous locations, the State has granted us permission to discharge
effluent to a nearby stream from November lst through April 30th. 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 during that
time of year, we are confident this procedure will have no harmful effect on the environment. We
are also hoping the State will give us some relief to direct discharge in summer months on those
few occasions when the golf course is saturated and the holding pond is full, We will be
submitting a formal request to the State in the near future.
2004 Performance, Problems and Accomplishments:
Operationally, 2004 was a relatively good year. Regrettably, however, we did have the
following permit violations:
Date
Type of Violation
Sample.Reading
Max. Allowed
6/16104
Turbidity
17.2 NTU
10.0 NTU
6/17/04
Turbidity
17.3 NTU
10.0 NTU
6/19/04
Turbidity
10.3 NTU
10.0 NTU
7/8/04
Ammonia Nitrogen
8.7 mg/1
6.0 mg/l
7/8/04
Total Suspended Solids
15.3 mg/1
10.0 mg/1
7/26/04
Turbidity
15.0 NTU
10.0 NTU
7/27/04
Turbidity
15.3 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/8/04
Turbidity
15.1 NTU
10,0 NTU
9/9/04
Turbidity
15.8 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/10/04
Turbidity
39.8 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/17/04
Turbidity
23.9 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/18/04
Turbidity
24.0 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/19/04
Turbidity
25.0 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/20/04
Turbidity
18.9 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/28/04
Turbidity
20.1 NTU
10.0 NTU
9/29/04
Turbidity
30.4 NTU
10.0 NTU
(Note: In all cases, the Monthly Average was compliant.)

The foregoing Turbidity violations were all caused by storm water entering the system.
Between June and September we received the remnants of several Tropical Storms and
Hurricanes. Surface water poured down the mountainous terrain, flooding our manholes and
entering the system. The plant could not process the excessive flows causing the effluent to
exceed the permit's Turbidity requirements. This, of course is not good, but occasionally happens
under such conditions. Most, if not all, treatment plants in the area at that time experienced
similar problems and Western North Carolina itself was proclaimed a "Disaster Area" because of
flooding.
In December each year, your Wastewater Committee organizes a sewer line inspection
team that walks the lines and looks for locations where surface or ground water might enter the
system ("Inflow & Infiltration" as it is known in the industry). Andy Zima, Champion Hills'
manager of maintenance, then reviews the committee's findings and makes all necessary repairs.
Over the past five years, we have installed approximately 65 dishes in those manholes we think
susceptible to seepage and have identified another 20 prospects for dishes this year. These dishes
prevent surface water from entering through the manhole cover. We can never eliminate I&I
altogether, but over the years we have.made great strides in reducing it and will continue this
effort in the future.
The Ammonia Nitrogen and TSS violations mentioned above were an indirect result of
pump failures in the Equalization Basin. The pumps were restored and, within a reasonable
period, the ammonia nitrogen and TSS were returned to compliance. We now carry a spare pump
in inventory so the problem can be addressed quicker should it re -occur.
We believe we have an excellent team between James & James running the treatment
plant and our own Andy Zima managing maintenance and making repairs. Although we had these
permit violations during the year, we doubt they could have been foreseen or prevented. All were
acted upon promptly by our team and no fines were imposed by the State.
Over the years, we have addressed many issues to help us perform better and continue to
look for ways to improve:
A. Although we have made significant progress in reducing "Inflow & Infiltration"
(I&I) in our collection system during periods of heavy or extended rain, we
continue to experience more than we would like. The quantity of I&I is probably
not unusual for a system of our size in mountain terrain, but it does represent a
significant portion of our treatment plant's capacity and can upset the treatment
process as indicated earlier. If not curtailed, it could mandate that we prematurely
expand the capacity of our treatment plant.
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 2005
and beyond. The work involves getting out in the rain and noting where increased
flow occurs in the system. We then look for possible sources and solutions which
include raising manhole covers, realigning and sealing manhole frames, sealing
manhole or lift station seams, fixing broken riser pipes, installing manhole
dishes, etc. As previously mentioned, we also walk the entire sewer line annually,
pulling all manhole covers, in search of I&I sources and other problems. In
addition, we have recently purchased a portable flow meter that allows us to
measure flows over short periods during and after heavy rains so we can
determine what kind of storms affect us most.

B. Power failures, which are not uncommon in the mountains, can play havoc with
wastewater systems. Our system includes three permanently located standby
generators that run on continuous supplies of natural gas. One is located at the
treatment plant and the other two are at lift stations with streams nearby. For the
remaining six lift stations, we rely on a portable diesel powered generator stored
at the golf course maintenance building. All lift stations that rely on the portable
generator have been equipped with "quick connection devices" to facilitate
emergency usage.
C. We now have telemetry at all eight of our collection system lift stations, as well
as at the treatment plant. The telemetry automatically contacts our 24 hour
Security service in case of power or pump failure. Security promptly notifies our
emergency responders in order to prevent or limit raw sewage spills. The
responders are on call 24 hours per day. .
D. We have purchased a sewer camera with a TV type viewing screen and 200 feet
of cable, which enables us to look into sewer lines to investigate internal
problems. Should we find a problem that can't be corrected using a water jet or
rotating auger inserted through a manhole, the camera will show us exactly
where to dig the line.
E. In 2004 we purchased a sludge digester tank to supplement the plants existing
digesting capacity. The tank will be installed and put into operation in 2005. This
additional capacity should allow us to substantially reduce the amount of sludge
we must pay to have hauled to larger treatment facilities, such as Brevard or
Hendersonville.
F. During 2004, the Wastewater Committee prepared a five year Wastewater
System Funding Plan for years 2005 through 2009. This plan reviews current
funding levels and makes future projections for operating, maintaining and
possibly expanding the wastewater system. In summary, the plan concluded we
might have some modest fee increases over this time frame, but in general, the
funds are all in good shape for the foreseeable future.
G. While back -washing the Tertiary Filter this past year, we accidentally over-
pressured the plate supporting the filter media, breaking it loose from its welded
supports. We contracted with the original filter supplier to manufacture and
install a new plate, after which we re -installed the plastic valves and provided
new filter media. Although the entire process took a couple of months to
complete, our plant operator was able to keep the effluent in compliance while
the filter was down. To prevent this from reoccurring, we purchased a thicker
media support plate and installed pressure gages and relief valves on the
backwash pumps.
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.
4

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 that do not reach such streams or ditches. We are pleased to advise that
we had no reportable spills in 2004.
Notification and Certification:
All Champion Hills' Property Owners and Club Members will be notified via the March issue of
the Champion Hills' monthly publication "Echoes" that this report is available through the
Champion Hills Club Administration Office by either stopping in to pick up a copy ,or by calling
Jessica at [phone] to receive one by mail.
I certify that this report is complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge. Any questions
pertaining to it should be directed to me 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, 2005