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(Continued from Page 1) the Health Department and SWCB, was rejected as too expensive for residents of the village.
Alternatives Examined
In examining alternatives to reduce cost, the engineering firm looked at innovative designs, including windmill power to supply electricity, sand mounds and a community system, Demer said. A septic tank effluent pump (STEP) system was finally selected as the most feasible. The proposed system uses lines put in like water lines to carry liquid wastes from water-tight septic tanks to a treatment plant, Demer explained. Initially, the design called for treatment in a sand mound but since the mound would be located in flood plain, the Health Department and SWCB found it unacceptable since they felt it could be inoperable as much as 20 percent of the time, he said. In response, the engineers substituted a more expensive package treatment plant which could be totally protected against flooding, Demer added.
But with the STEP system and package plant, the engineer continued, monthly user fees were still considered too high for Sperryville residents to afford. “The alternative was to seek additional grant funds,” Demer said, noting that the Rappahannock supervisors have authorized the county’s water and Sewer Authority to proceed with an application for an economic and community development block grant.
With just the $1.4 million from EPA that has been allocated for the project in FY 1983, monthly user fees will run around $35, he noted. From the block grant, $700,000 is available per project. To bring monthly bills down to the $20 range, $260,000 must be obtained through the block grants; for a $15 range, $354,000 and for a $10 range. $440,000, according to Demer.
New septic tanks for the STEP system will have to be installed at all residences and businesses to ensure against water infiltration, the engineer said. A onehorsepower motor in the tank will pump the liquid (at an estimated electrical cost of 30 cents per month) through small diameter lines laid just below the frost line, he reported.
According to Demer, there will be little odor associated with the treatment plant, “nothing more than with any well run sewage treatment facility.”
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