Coplay-Whitehall Sewer Authority officials met with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency and the state's Department of Environmental Protection earlier this month.

Authority member Joseph Marx reported on the gathering at CWSA's regular meeting Aug. 20.

"I think we got our points across to them. And I think they were impressed with the progress we made," Marx said.

About two years ago, the EPA put the Allentown Wastewater Treatment Plant under a mandate to reduce clear water infiltration into the sewer system. Reducing the clear water infiltration, or water that does not need to be treated, increases the capacity of the treatment plant and reduces the need for expensive additions. Reducing costs keeps water rates low.

Coplay and Whitehall are involved because they are among six municipalities that send all of their municipal sewage to Allentown for treatment.

When the Lehigh County Authority took over the Allentown Wastewater Treatment under a lease agreement, CWSA feared that much of the costs of not complying with the EPA mandate would be passed on to all rate payers.

Fines for non-compliance can be hefty. One provision calls for daily fines ranging from $30,000 to $50,000. CWSA, to protect its ratepayers, decided to meet with the EPA independently.

CWSA has long contended that it is making significant progress in meeting the goals set forth in the mandate and is further along than other communities in meeting its commitments.

In the presentation to In the presentation to the EPA, Marx along with plant Manager David Harleman cited the recently completed Coplay Creek Interceptor project, flow meter studies and the status of customer home inspections.

"They [EPA] said they would allow us to make a request to review options we have available," Marx said.

According to Marx, there are three options available to CWSA: the authority can ask to be relieved of the mandate's requirements because the goals are met; the EPA could grant an extension without a fine, or the EPA can set up a list of requirements that need to be achieved to complete the mandate.

Marx said the EPA mandate is not completed because the mandate requires inspection of the homes of every ratepayer to see if there is clear water infiltration.

"We beefed up our efforts so that we are now around 70 percent complete," Marx said. "We hired someone to specifically make calls to our rate payers."

CWSA cannot just go out and inspect without the homeowners permission. In the past, homeowners objected to the intrusion based on privacy issues and government oversight.

"If we can get close to 100 percent, we can get this burden off our back," Marx said.

Inspections by CWSA do not trigger any code violation reports.

"We check to see that gutters are not draining into the sewer line, sump pumps are not connected and basement drains are not dumping water into the system," Marx said.

This is one time when CWSA needs ratepayers to respond to keep billing low.

"We ask that if a homeowner has not been contacted, they can call us to make an appointment," Marx said. "We take very little time to make the inspection, in most cases less than a half-hour."

Marx is charged with the management responsibility to see that clear water inspections are completed.

In related news, Harleman reported to the board that LCA is changing the billing cycle on its next quarterly cycle. Billing will now be one quarter in arrears.

"In the second quarter billing we received, we were billed for usage in the second quarter. The next bill, the one for the third quarter, will be based on the second quarter data," he said.

The change should give LCA more time to prepare an accurate quarterly billing. The change should result in decreased personnel costs because of the potential increase in productivity.

Harleman also indicated that LCA has not made its final adjustments to the 2013 billing.

Usually the adjustments are around June.