wqcs00021_Annual Performance_20180918

August 295 2018
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
System Performance Annual Report
NC DEQ
1617 Mail Service Center
Raleigh; North Carolina 27699-1617
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Subject: 201$ Wastewater Collection and Treatment System Report
City of Wilson — Hominy Creek Water Reclamation Facility
NPDES Permit No. NCO023906
Dear Sir or Madam:
Enclosed are three copies of the City of Wilson's 2018 Wastewater Collection and Treatment
System Report. The reports were mailed to customers during August 2018.
The report is based on fiscal year July 1, 2017 —June 30, 2018. The report is submitted as
required byClean Water Act of 1999.
Please contact me at
additional informati<
Sincerely,
Jimmy
Water:
992491 or via email at jpridgen@wilsonnc. org if you need
Manager
cc: Barry Parks, Director of Water Resources
Regional Supervisor, DWR Raleigh Regional Office -Surface Water Protection
CITY OF WILSON
INCORPORATED 1849
WATER RECLAMATION DIVISIOIJ � P.O. 60X 10 � WILSON, NORThi CAP.OLINA 27894-0010) )252) 399-2491 � [phone]
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER I AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER

Collection System Maintenance and
Projects Completed:
• 57 miles of pipe cleaned (about 16% ofthe entire 359 -mile
rystem —10%required)
• 5,700feetofpipereplaced
• 94sewerservicesreplaced
• 130 manholes rehabbed
• 36 grease blockages cleared from sewer mains
Sanitary Sewer Overflows
Sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) occur when untreat-
edsewage isdischarged into the environment prior to
reaching thesewertreatmentfacilities. Thesetypically
occur at manholes, pump stations, or broken sewer
pipes. Infiltrationrnflow (I/I) is unwanted water that
enters the sewer collection system through deteriorat-
ingolder pipes, leaking manholes, illegal connections
such as roof drains, etc. During heavy rains pipes can
become overloaded from I/I and cause SSOs. Pipe stop-
pages caused by fats, oils and grease can also lead to
SSOs. Replacing and rehabilitating these lines and
manholes reduces I/I into the sanitary sewer rystem,
thus protecting the public health, improving treat-
ment plant efficiency and reducing system mainte-
nance. Generators provide emergency back-up power
for pump stations and help prevent SSOs.
Duringfiscal year 2017-2018, the CiryofWilson did not
experience any reportable SSOs. The WRF treated 3.1
billion gallons ofwastewaterduringthis period.
Customers who observe a sanitary sewer overflow
should report these as emergencies to the City
of Wilson Unfied Communications Center at
[phone].
Clientes que observan un desbordamiento del
drenaje sanitrario, deben reporter e3tas situs-"
clones de emergencia al centro de comunicaciones
unificadas de la Ciudad de Wilson, al telefoon
[phone].
How Does Your Publicly Owned
Treatment System Work?
The treatmentsystem uses thesame physical, chemical
and biological processes used by nature to clean water.
Everything we know about water, chemistry, bacteria,
hygiene and engineering has gone into this system we
use to purify ourwastewater. The Gry maintains about
359 miles ofsanitary sewers lines (piping rystem that
collects and transports the wastewater) and 21 pump-
ing stations that help carry wastewater from homes,
schools, commercial buildings and industrial sources
to the treatment plant.
Once at the WRF, the treatment process begins. The
treatment plant is designed to treat 14 MGD. The plant
currentlyaveragestveating 8.4 MGD. The following de-
scribes the treatment process:
Physical Methods -Primary Treatment
• BarScreens—catch and remove large material
(wood, rocks, etc) as theyflow past.
• Grit Chamber— removes heavy particles that
settle rapidly like gravel, sand, seeds and coffee
grounds. As the water enters the chamber,
gravity causes the grit to settle to the bottom.
• Sedimentation(settling)Tanks—aswaterflows
into the tanks, heavy organic particles settle to
the bottom and are withdrawn and pumped to
the solids handling fadlities for additional
treatment. Floatable material is skimmed offand
pumped to the solids handling facilities.
Primary treatment removes approximately 45% of the
pollution.
Biological Methods — Sernndary Treatment
• Activated Sludge—wastewaterismocedwith
millions of microorganisms. During constant
aeration (mixing air containing oxygen into the
wastewater) the microorganisms (bacteria)
absorb oxygen and feed on the pollutants.
• Final SettlingTanks—solids made up of
microorganisms from the activated sludge
process settle to the bottom. Some of the
microorganisms are sent back to the activated
sludge processto continue eating pollutants and
some are removed and sentto the solids
handling fadlities for disposal.
Secondary treatment removes appro>amately 95°k of
the pollution; however, in orderfortheWRFto comply
with permit limits additional treatment is needed.
Physical/ChemicaUBiologicalMethnds —
AdvancedTreatment
•Nutrient Removal —nutrients (phosphorous and
nitrogen) can cause an overabundance ofalgae
growth in waterways. As the algae dies, bacteria
feed on the decaying matter using up oxygen _
needed byfish and otheraquatic life. This
depletion ofoxygen can lead tofish kills.
Phosphorous and nitrogen are removed
biologically and chemically at the treatment
plant.
• Filtration —removes those particles that primary
and secondarytreatment could not remove.
The wastewater passes through sand filters that
remove remaining partides. Filtration removes
99.9°k ofthe pollution.
• Disinfection—thefinalstageoftreatment uses
sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach containing
chlorine) to disinfectthewater. Disinfection kills
off any disease -causing organisms that may
remain after passing through the other
treatment steps. Chlorine can cause problems in
rivers and streams so we remove the chlorine
before discharging the treated waterto
Contentnea Creek.
Returning the Water to Nature or Reusing the
Water
Most ofthis clean water— now called effluent— is
discharged into Contentnea Creek butsome ofthe
effluent is sentto the City's reclaimed watersystem
(beneficial reuse) to be used for irrigation or industrial
process water and cooling water.
What's Left Behind
Now, what about the material that has been removed
from the water? These solids are called residuals: heary
matter that must be treated in order to safely return to
the environment.
The following steps are used to further treat the
residuals:
• Endosed heated tanks called digesters use
microorganisms to tum the residuals into inert
(inactive), harmless organic matter.
• Belt filter presses are used to remove waterfrom
the residuals to reduce the volume that must be
disposed of.
• Thetreatedresiduals(organicmaterial)
are used by area farmers as a fertilizer and soil
amendment.
Biogas
A by-product ofthe digestion process described above is
the production of methane gas (biogas). The WRF uses
part ofthe biogas produced asfuel to heatthe digesters,
thus significantly redudng the amount of time required
to digest the solids. The excess is burned off by a waste
gas burner. The City has future plans to install a system
that will utilize the excess biogas to generate energy
that can be used to operate other equipment or used for
green energy credits.
"What The Customer Can Do
To Help"
In order to help the City ofWilson continue a high stan-
darcl of water quality and protection of the environment
please foiiow mese simple steps:
D® iV®T pour grease, fats and
oils from cooking down the drain —
instead, collect the grease in a con-
taineranddispose of it inthe garbage.
D® NODI' use the toilet as a waste-
basket— place a wastebasket in each
bathroom for the disposal of solid
waste, disposable diapers, condoms,
and personal hygiene products that
DO NOT belong in the sewersystem.
�,
y � ,,
...,
®® ND'P use the sink to dispose of food scraps —
instead, place food scraps in the garbage for disposal
with solid wastes, or better yet, start a compost pile.
Protecting The Neuse River
The Lower Neuse River Basin Assodation, Inc
(LNBA) and the Neuse River Compliance Asso-
ciation, Inc, (NRCA) are 501(c) (3) non-profit
corporations comprised of municipalities and
industries located in the Neuse River Basin.
The mission of these organizations is to mon-
itorand preserve the waters ofthe Neuse River
and Neuse River estuary through innovative
�._ ,
and cost-effective wastewater treatment and
�" °` ""°"` - reduction strategies. The NRCA group is com-
posed of 24 wastewater treatment facilities located in the Neuse River Basin. NBCA was
issued North Carolina'sfirstbasin-wide NPDES permitfornitrogen control January 1, 2003
and was reissued in January 1, 2008 and January 1, 2014. The group was given a mandate
to reduce theirTotal Nitrogen discharge by 30%. Through the combined efforts of its en-
tiremembership the NBCA exceeded the mandated 30%nitrogen reduction by removing
over 65% of their nitrogen loading to the Neuse River estuary since 1995.
The City of Wilson is proud to be a charter member of both the LNBA and NBCA

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