Agenda - 06-06-2000-10 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

V. Efland Sewer_System E~cpansion to serve_the Richmond Hills (Habitat Project) A recently submitted subdivision plan for a Habitat for Humanity project (Richmond Hills) proposes to extend the sewer system to provide wastewater collection for more than 40 homes. The Habitat property has Richmond Road frontage and is contiguous to existing sewer line lying within Richmond Road. The zoning and Land Use plans for the area allow sewer extensions to serve the property and providing of sewer service does not conflict with the County Water and Sewer Policy. Furthermore, at least the southern portion of the property lies within the sewer service area designated within the original, but never adopted, Efland Sewer master plan. Currently, there is no sewer capacity issue related to,extending sewer service to Richmond Hills. Total sewer flow from the subdivision should not exceed 8500 gpd, which is well within the Efland system's pumping capacity, the contractual wastewater treatment reserve and Hillsborough's available treatment capacity. The preliminary plans for Richmond Hills do show that Habitat proposes to access a portion of the sewer system that is not contiguous to its property but lies on the Efland Cheeks elementary school property. To obtain access to this particular segment of the existing wastewater collection system, Habitat will have to obtain a short section of permanent access and temporary construction easement across school property. It is clear that development of all of 40 (+/_) lots in the Richmond Hills subdivision will require that wastewater be pumped from the subdivision into a nearby segment of the existing gravity wastewater collection system. It is less clear as to how the wastewater collection and pumping system should be designed. Typical or standard engineering design would generally entail using a network of gravity mains to provide wastewater collection at each house. This network would eventually discharge wastewater into a pumping or lift station from which a Force main that would convey wastewater to an existing section of the wastewater collection/treatment system. Use of a gravity wastewater collection. system with a pumping/lift station has, in fact, been proposed by the engineering consultants for Habitat. There are a number of disadvantages to using pump stations, however. The nuisance value of wastewater pumping stations. (they are often a source of unpleasant odors; they require constant and frequent preventive maintenance attention; they experience equipment failures that tend to be time consuming, complicated and expensive to repair; and sewerage spills at pumping stations represent the overwhelming majority of all wastewater spill incidents) ensures that utility operators avoid using them whenever possible. The nuisance issues associated with a pumping station at Richmond Hills are exacerbated by several other factors, the most important of which is that Orange County does not have its own pump station maintenance personal or an emergency response capability to address pump station failures or wastewater overflow/spill incidents. There may also be some larger planning/utility issues associated with a County approval of a pumping station for the Richmond Hills subdivision. The decision to approve a pump station may set a precedent for approving and extending sewer service to other subdivisions that would not be viable without the availability of municipal sewer service that could only be made available through the use of a gravity collection/pumping station sub-system. If the County does approve a pumping station system for one subdivision, it may have difficulty denying the use of a similaz system for similazly situated subdivisions seeking access to the Efland sewer system. Currently, there is at least one other major subdivision in the Efland that is in the planning stage and that may propane the use of a pumping station to obtain sewer service from the Efland sewer system.