Septic Repair Program
Since 2006, Haywoood Waterways has managed, in partnership with the Haywood County Environmental Health Deparment, the Septic Repair Program, providing funding to repair or replace a failing septic system that will impact adjacent waterways. We have replaced 191 septic systems to date, avoiding over 70,000 gal/day of wastewater into our waterways.
Haywood Co Wastewater Treatment 2023 Supplemental
Timeframe | June 2023 - November 2023
Partners
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Haywood County Environmental Health Department
Funding Source | Pigeon River Fund
Amount Awarded | $21,900
Scope of Work
To repair three failing septic systems in the Pigeon River Watershed. These septic repairs would eliminate untreated human waste sources and improve surface water quality. Providing assistance to homeowners allows Haywood Waterways and partners to provide quick response and instant results. Repairing a failing septic system provides long term benefits that can last more than 30 years.
The property owners agreed to participate in the program and the planning steps are complete, including permits issued by the Haywood Environmental Health Department, contractor cost estimates received, and contractors selected. This project would meet one focus area of the FERC license - improved surface water quality. We would not implement activities that increase citizen’s awareness; those are included in our PRF Fall 2022 wastewater treatment grant that would overlap with this one. We anticipate this project starting June 1, 2023 and end by November 30, 2023.
Impacts
A failing septic system is a significant water quality issue. In the most serious failures, raw blackwater and graywater flow on the ground surface or subsurface directly to a river, stream, or reservoir. In less severe situations, that wastewater can accumulate on the ground surface and then be flushed to the nearest waterway during a rain event. Blackwater is human feces, which can pollute waterways with bacteria, nutrients, and pathogens. Greywater is everything else, (e.g., soaps and pharmaceuticals) that pollute waterways with nutrients, chemicals, and heated wastewater. Once in a waterway, the pollution impacts can extend far downstream, and those impacts can compound if other water quality issues are present.
Haywood Co Wastewater Treatment 2023
Timeframe | December 2022 - November 2023
Partners
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Haywood County Environmental Health Department
Funding Source | Pigeon River Fund
Amount Awarded | $4,500
Scope of Work
Haywood Waterways Association requests $45,000 to repair approximately four failing septic systems and educate Haywood County citizens about water quality issues in the Pigeon River Watershed, particularly bacteria. The septic repairs would eliminate untreated human waste sources and lead to immediate surface water quality improvements. Providing assistance to homeowners allows Haywood Waterways and partners to provide quick response and instant results. Repairing a failing septic system provides long term benefits that can last more than 30 years.
This project meets two focus areas of the FERC license, (1) improved surface water quality and (2) increased citizen’s awareness about their roles in protecting these resources. We anticipate this project starting December 1, 2022. The end date would be November 30, 2023 but would likely be sooner depending on when the repairs occurred. We anticipate this project would benefit the entire Haywood County community.
Impacts
According to EHD, there continues to be great need for repairs and financial assistance. We have also documented need through our monitoring work. We received multiple grants from the NC 205(j) and 319programs to evaluate stream bacteria levels throughout Haywood County, and use microbial source tracking techniques to determine if those sources are human, livestock, or other animal.
Haywood Co Wastewater Treatment 2022 Supplemental
Timeframe | TBD
Partners
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Haywood County Environmental Health Department
Funding Source | Pigeon River Fund
Amount Awarded | $7,161
Scope of Work
Haywood Waterways and the Haywood County Health Department have collaborated on septic system repairs since 2006. To repair two failing septic systems in the Pigeon River Watershed: one in the Clyde area and one in the Jonathan Creek watershed. These septic repairs would eliminate untreated human waste sources and improve surface water quality. Providing assistance to homeowners allows Haywood Waterways and partners to provide quick response and instant results. Repairing a failing septic system provides long term benefits that can last more than 30 years. Funds are needed to complete one repair in progress that is mostly funded by our PRF wastewater treatment grant from the fall 2022 cycle, but there was a shortfall in funding. The second repair is a new shovel ready project that was recently identified. The property owners agreed to participate in the program and the planning steps are complete, including permits issued by the Haywood Environmental Health Department, contractor cost estimates received, and contractors selected. This project would meet one focus area of the FERC license - improved surface water quality. It also addresses multiple strategies in our Pigeon River Watershed Action Plan, as well as the NC Division of Water Resources’ French Broad Basinwide Plans (2005, 2011) through installation of water quality improvement BMPs and providing financial and technical resources. It also continues the strong collaboration between HWA and EHD that addresses the widespread bacteria issue throughout Haywood County.
Impacts
The project is addressing failing septic systems because they are a significant water quality issue. In the most serious failures, raw blackwater and graywater flow on the ground surface or subsurface directly to a river, stream, or reservoir. In less severe situations, that wastewater can accumulate on the ground surface and then be flushed to the nearest waterway during a rain event. Blackwater is human feces, which can pollute waterways with bacteria, nutrients, and pathogens. Greywater is everything else, (e.g., soaps and pharmaceuticals) that pollute waterways with nutrients, chemicals, and heated wastewater. Once in a waterway, the pollution impacts can extend far downstream, and those impacts can compound if other water quality issues are present.
Haywood Co Wastewater Treatment 2022
Timeframe | TBD
Partners
-
Haywood County Environmental Health Department
Funding Source | Pigeon River Fund
Amount Awarded | $40,000
Scope of Work
Haywood Waterways and the Haywood County Health Department have collaborated on septic system repairs since 2006. To repair approximately five failing septic systems and educate Haywood County citizens about water quality issues in the Pigeon River Watershed, particularly bacteria. The septic repairs would eliminate untreated human waste sources and lead to immediate surface water quality improvements. Providing assistance to homeowners allows Haywood Waterways and partners to provide quick response and instant results. Repairing a failing septic system provides long term benefits that can last more than 30 years. This project meets two focus areas of the FERC license, (1) improved surface water quality and (2) increased citizen’s awareness about their roles in protecting these resources. It also addresses multiple strategies in our Pigeon River Watershed Action Plan, as well as the NC Division of Water Resources’ French Broad Basinwide Plans (2005, 2011) through installation of water quality improvement BMPs and providing financial and technical resources. It also continues the strong collaboration between HWA and EHD that addresses the widespread bacteria issue throughout Haywood County.
Impacts
There are two shovel-ready projects for this application. Both are considered severe, though also expensive. For the most expensive project, EHD says " The system has been in constant failure since at least February of 2021 and is failing directly into the creek. The original permitted septic is right around the 50’ setback from the stream, but the failure plume has extended at least 20-25’ towards the creek and during even the smallest rain events that sewage goes directly into the stream. This is not an intermittent failure; anytime (the homeowner) uses a water-using fixture, that water comes straight out of the system and runs straight into the creek. Outside of a straight pipe scenario, this is about as bad as it gets in terms of effects from a residential sewage system on water quality.
Haywood Co Wastewater Treatment 2021 Supplemental
Timeframe | TBD
Partners
-
Haywood County Environmental Health Department
Funding Source | Pigeon River Fund
Amount Awarded | $6,500
Scope of Work
Haywood Waterways and the Haywood County Health Department have collaborated on septic system repairs since 2006. To repair two failing septic systems in the Pigeon River Watershed near Canton, NC. These septic repairs would eliminate untreated human waste sources to improve surface water quality. Providing assistance to homeowners allows Haywood Waterways and partners to provide quick response and instant results. Repairing a failing septic system provides long term benefits that can last more than 30 years. Funds are also needed to complete one repair in progress that is mostly funded by our PRF wastewater treatment grant from the fall 2020 cycle. The property owners agreed to participate in the program and the planning steps are complete, including the Haywood Environmental Health Department has issued repair permits, contractor cost estimates received, and contractors selected. This project would meet one focus area of the FERC license - improved surface water quality. It also addresses multiple strategies in our Pigeon River Watershed Action Plan, as well as the NC Division of Water Resources’ French Broad Basinwide Plans (2005, 2011) through installation of water quality improvement BMPs and providing financial and technical resources. It also continues the strong collaboration between HWA and EHD that addresses the widespread bacteria issue throughout Haywood County.
Impacts
A failing septic system is a significant water quality issue. In the most serious failures, raw blackwater and graywater flow on the ground surface or subsurface directly to a river, stream, or reservoir. In less severe situations, that wastewater can accumulate on the ground surface and then be flushed to the nearest waterbody the next time it rains. Blackwater is human feces, which pollute waterways with bacteria, nutrients, and pathogens. Greywater is everything else, such as soaps and pharmaceuticals, that pollute waterways with nutrients, chemicals, and heated wastewater. Once in a waterbody, the pollution impacts can extend far downstream, and those impacts can compound if other water quality issues are present.
Haywood Co Wastewater Treatment 2021
Timeframe | January 2021 - December 2021
Partners
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Haywood County Environmental Health Department
Funding Source | Pigeon River Fund
Amount Awarded | $50,000
Scope of Work
Haywood Waterways works to improve surface water quality in Haywood County through non-point source pollution abatement and increasing citizen awareness of our water resources. Our mission closely mirrors the purpose of the Pigeon River Fund and its grant criteria. (not as much detail as the others)
Impacts
According to our water quality monitoring data and information from our natural resource agency partners, Haywood County’s number one nonpoint pollutant problem is sedimentation caused by stormwater. Other issues include bacteria, trash, nutrients, and thermal stress; all of which must be addressed to improve water quality. We address these issues through partnership collaborations, implementing best management practices, and education and public engagement programs. Many of our projects and programs are part of targeted watershed restoration efforts (ex. Richland Creek, Fines Creek, Beaverdam Creek) or larger-scale themes for the entire county (ex. septic system repairs, sustainable development promotions). Haywood County has five streams considered impaired by NC Division of Water Resources: Richland Creek, Fines Creek, Inman Branch, the Pigeon River from Canton to 14 miles downstream, and an unnamed tributary to Jonathans Creek. There are also others considered in the process of degrading (ex. Beaverdam Creek). According to the French Broad Basinwide Plan (2011) and our monitoring data, each stream has one or more issues associated with urbanization and stormwater, specifically sedimentation, poor riparian buffers, stream channelization, heated stormwater, and animal waste.