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Home My WebLink AboutWQ0000088_Compliance Evaluation Inspection_20240327 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Division of Water Resources | Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive | 1628 Mail Service Center | Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1628 919.791.4200 March 27, 2024 Lauren A. Raup-Plummer – Engineering Manager Aqua North Carolina, Inc. 202 MacKenan Court Cary, NC 27511 Subject: Compliance Evaluation Inspection Governors Club Reclaimed Water Generation and Dedicated Utilization System Permit Number: WQ0000088 Chatham County Lauren Raup-Plummer, On March 26, 2024, Chris Smith of the Raleigh Regional Office conducted a compliance evaluation inspection of the dedicated wastewater treatment and reclaimed water generation system located at Governors Club. This facility is permitted for the construction and operation of: A 27,000 gallon aerobic digester with two 130 gallon per minute (GPM) submersible pumps and all associated piping, valves, controls, and appurtenances, the continued operation of Phases I and II (200,000 gallons per day (GPD) total capacity) consisting of a 60,000 gallon aerated flow equalization tank (covered and with odor control system) with a 250 cubic foot per minute (CFM) blower and two 175 GPM pumps, two 100,000 GPD extended aeration wastewater treatment plants each consisting of a flow control and splitter box, aeration tanks totaling 150,000 gallons in capacity with two 365 CFM blowers (an extra 365 CFM blower shall serve as a reserve for both plants), multiple clarifier units with a total capacity of 20,830 gallons, a chlorination system with two tablet chlorinators and a 3,125 gallon chlorine contact tank, a tertiary filtration unit with dual 35 square foot (ft2) filter cells (air scour for both units provided by a 140 CFM blower), a 5,250 gallon clear-well and two 535 GPM pumps, and a 5,950 gallon mud-well with two 175 GPM pumps, a 45,000 gallon aerated sludge holding tank (aerated from main plant aeration system); and all associated piping, valves, controls, and appurtenances. The continued operation of Phase III (100,000 GPD total capacity) consisting of a 30,000 gallon aerated flow equalization tank (covered and with an odor control system) with a 100 CFM blower and two pumps; a 100,000 GPD extended aeration wastewater treatment plant, consisting of a flow control and splitter box, aeration tanks totaling 150,000 gallons in capacity with three 325 CFM blowers (an extra 365 CFM blower shall serve as a reserve for both plants), multiple clarifier units with a total capacity of DocuSign Envelope ID: DB29BAC6-082B-4E1C-9846-DCC4AEEDE823 WQ0000088 Chatham March 27, 2024 Page 2 of 4 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Division of Water Resources | Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive | 1628 Mail Service Center | Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1628 919.791.4200 20,830 gallons, a chlorination system with two tablet chlorinators and a 3,125 gallon chlorine contact tank, a tertiary filtration unit with dual 35 ft2 filter cells, a 70 CFM blower, a 5,250 gallon clear-well and two 525 GPM pumps, and a 5,950 gallon mud-well with two 175 GPM pumps; a 15,000 gallon aerated sludge holding tank; and all associated piping, valves, controls, and appurtenances, the continued operation of an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system, continuous flow monitoring and recording device, dosing chamber with two 280 GPM pumps to convey effluent to the 5-day detention pond or irrigation pond, continuous turbidity monitoring and recording device, telemetry system, automatically activated backup generator system, and all associated piping, valves, controls, and appurtenances. The continued operation of a 1.5 million gallon (MG) 5-day detention pond, 15.5 MG irrigation pond, 15.0 MG irrigation pond with two 570 GPM pumps to transfer reclaimed water to the other irrigation pond, and all associated piping, valves, controls, and appurtenances, and the continued operation of a 234,128 GPD reclaimed water irrigation system with a 195.68 acre spray irrigation area and all associated piping, valves, controls, and appurtenances, to serve the Governors Club WWTP, with no discharge of wastes to surface waters. The purpose of this inspection was to ensure compliance with the subject permit. During the inspection, the cooperation and assistance of Wesley Bishop and Operator in Responsible Charge (ORC), Roy Lyons was helpful and appreciated. This compliance evaluation inspection consisted of the following: •Review of the permit •Review of the owner/facility information •Review of ORC logbooks, calibration documentation, Non-Discharge Monitoring Reports (NDMR), Non-Discharge Application Reports (NDAR-1), Groundwater Monitoring Forms (GW-59) and •On-site inspection of treatment components and spray fields The current permit was issued March 25, 2020 and expires on July 31, 2023. Renewal applications were received on March 23, 2023 and March 12, 2024. The inspector reviewed the facilities Operation and Maintenance Plan, which was found to be adequate. Flowmeter and turbidimeter calibration records were not available during the inspection. Wesley Bishop stated during the inspection that the facility has recently changed meter servicing contractors and will provide calibration documentation as soon as possible. The facility is certified to monitor and collect two field parameters’ values (chlorine and pH) in house. A calibration log is maintained for the pH meter which is calibrated daily. A check of pH calibration standards on hand indicated that the observed pH standards were not expired. Chlorine meter calibration records were not requested during the inspection and need to be provided. DocuSign Envelope ID: DB29BAC6-082B-4E1C-9846-DCC4AEEDE823 WQ0000088 Chatham March 27, 2024 Page 3 of 4 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Division of Water Resources | Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive | 1628 Mail Service Center | Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1628 919.791.4200 Residuals are monitored and removed from the facility by Granville Farms when necessary. The wastewater package plant appeared to be well-maintained and operational. Water moving through the clarifier weirs was clear and free of solids. The ultraviolet lights were operational. The facility has switched to liquid chlorine disinfection but keeps plenty of chlorine tablets available as backup. Alarms associated with the treatment components functioned when floats were pulled. The standby generator is on a twice-yearly preventative maintenance schedule administered by Power Secure. The generator is tested under load weekly and appeared to be well maintained. Monitoring well 1A (MW1A) located in Field 13 was not locked and the top of the well bore was below grade and inundated with water at the time of this inspection. The well cover appeared to be in good condition. Monitoring well 3A (MW3A) located near field 11 was not locked. The well cover appeared to be in good condition. Monitoring well 7 (MW7) near the facility’s 5-day upset pond was locked. The well vault appeared to be in good condition. Monitoring well 9 (MW9) located in field 5 was locked. The well vault appeared to be in good condition except for damage to one corner of the concrete collar. No issues were noted with the 5-day detention pond on the day of the inspection. The 5-day detention pond had approximately 7 feet of freeboard. The pump station located at the 5-day detention pond has a lighted alarm and will call the facility when in alarm status. The alarm light functioned when a float was pulled, but the audible alarm did not. The audible alarm was disabled in response to complaints by nearby residents. The facility stores treated reclaimed water in two irrigation ponds (Pond A: 15 MG capacity and Pond B - 15.5 MG capacity) and maintains two 570 (GPM) pumps to transfer water between the ponds when needed and to irrigate. At the time of this inspection Pond A had approximately 6.5 feet of freeboard and Pond B had approximately 3.75 feet of freeboard. The pond berms were well-vegetated and there were no signs of erosion or other damage to the structures. The facility maintains several spray fields located within an existing power line easement and a golf course. Appropriate signage near the fields warns residents of reclaimed water usage on the fields. No issues were noted with the fields or golf course areas. The facility appears to be monitoring the package plant effluent according to permit requirements. Two random months of NDMR data were compared to onsite records and no discrepancies were found. Overall, the facility appears to be well-maintained and operated and in compliance with permit conditions with the following exceptions which must be addressed: DocuSign Envelope ID: DB29BAC6-082B-4E1C-9846-DCC4AEEDE823 WQ0000088 Chatham March 27, 2024 Page 4 of 4 North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality | Division of Water Resources | Raleigh Regional Office 3800 Barrett Drive | 1628 Mail Service Center | Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1628 919.791.4200 • Provide meter calibration records documenting calibration at least one (1) time during the 12 months following the last DWR documented calibration on December 16, 2022 for the flow and turbidity meters and on August 16, 2022 for the chlorine meter. • MW1A needs to be modified to bring the well opening above grade to prevent inundation by groundwater and overland flow and needs to be locked. • MW3A needs to be locked. Within 30 days of receiving this letter, please provide documentation to this office that the items above have been addressed. If you have any questions about this inspection or this letter, please contact Chris Smith at chris.smith@deq.nc.gov or 919-791-4200. Sincerely, Michael Hall, Regional Supervisor Water Quality Regional Operations Section Raleigh Regional Office Division of Water Resources, NCDEQ Attachments: Compliance Inspection Report cc: Laserfiche DocuSign Envelope ID: DB29BAC6-082B-4E1C-9846-DCC4AEEDE823