Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority Board Chairman John Schreiner announced at the board's regular meeting on July 17 the CWSA will meet with Environmental Protection Agency representative Rebecca Crane to present the authority's report on its progress toward meeting EPA mandates on decreasing clear water infiltration into the waste water treatment system.

Nationally, the EPA established a program to reduce clear water infiltration, which can best be described as rainwater, into a municipal wastewater treatment facility. The goal of the program is two-fold. Reducing the amount of clean water in the wastewater system reduces the cost involved in treating water. The second part of the program focuses on allowing rainwater to permeate the ground to restore underground aquifers.

Several years ago, the EPA brought its clear water program to the Lehigh Valley and targeted the Allentown Wastewater Treatment Plant, which was near its capacity limits. The EPA issued a mandate for the treatment plant and all surrounding municipalities feeding into the plant to reduce clear water infiltration. CWSA controls the public sewer system that serves Coplay and Whitehall. The authority was included in the Allentown wastewater mandate.

According to the CWSA board, the authority took aggressive action to comply with the mandate. One of the largest sewer projects in the Valley, Coplay Creek Interceptor, completely revamped the main sewer line and reduced clear water infiltration from the creek and ground water sources. The CWSA called in a third-party team to audit the sewer system and the system was found to be in excellent shape with less than 2 percent infiltration in the main sewer lines. Flow meters were purchased and set up at critical points in the system to monitor flows. Maintenance crews use video technology to identify leaks that require repair.

The EPA mandate also required CWSA to inspect rate payer's homes to see if there were any unauthorized intrusions from downspouts or sump pumps connected to sewer lines. Under a new intensive effort led by board member Joseph Marx, more than 70 percent of the homes are certified as compliant.

Last year the Lehigh County Authority (LCA) took over the operation of the Allentown Wastewater Treatment Plant under a lease agreement. In reviewing the progress made by Allentown and other municipalities, CWSA determined most utilities were not nearly as far along as CWSA in meeting EPA requirements. At a meeting in May, LCA proposed to all its signatories that they collectively approach the EPA to ask for an extension.

"This approach might be detrimental to our rate payers because they may be forced to pay for costs at other locations and there may be fines incurred for the delay," said Schreiner at the time. After some recent discussion, CWSA decided to approach the EPA on its own.

"We will ask them to release us from the [mandate] based on the work we have done and the results we achieved," said Marx. The meeting is scheduled for later in the month and the results will be reported at the authority's next meeting in August.