Braselton water reuse system not available to homes
Award-winning system remains on hold for residential areas
as town continues upgrades
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Braselton has a state-of-the-art system to help residents water their lawns — even amid a state drought and outdoor watering restrictions.
But use of the system is limited — until town officials can provide a new storage tank that allows residents with reuse water lines to begin irrigating their yards.
That system is Braselton’s reuse water system, which provides highly-treated wastewater that is cleaned for irrigation uses. And despite having an estimated 400 houses ready to use the system, Braselton isn’t able to provide reuse water to residences.
“There’s been a lot of residents interested in reuse water,” said Jerry Hood, the town’s civil and environmental engineer.
Reuse water — also called “reclaimed,” “recycled” or “gray” water — is wastewater that has been treated with the harmful organisms and solids removed. The reuse water is then available for irrigation and possibly industrial uses, but not direct human consumption. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has standards for communities that provide reuse water.
Most of the communities in Georgia that provide reuse water use it to irrigate parks and golf courses. Braselton makes reuse water available for Chateau Elan’s golf courses and several newer neighbors in the gated-community have reuse lines installed for future residential use.
The town’s reuse system has also garnered state honors for its innovation to conserve water and use it efficiently.
The Georgia Municipal Association and “Georgia Trend” magazine named Braselton as one of its “Trendsetter” cities in 2005, namely based on the town’s reuse water system.
Braselton was also one of eight governments in Georgia to be named a “Water First Community” by the state’s department of community affairs last year.
But for now, residents can’t take advantage of one of the town’s most prized services.
“We’ve got the funds, we’ve got the design, we just need the storage tank,” said Hood, who is vice president for Lawerenceville-based Engineering Management Incorporated (EMI).
That storage tank will hold an estimated 500,000 gallons of reuse water and will be constructed on Thompson Mill Road, next to the town’s existing 1 million gallon water tank. Hood said the town needs 25 easements to connect the tank to reuse water lines; the town currently has six easements.
Another reuse water storage tank is planned for New Liberty Church Road in Jackson County. An existing water tank there would be converted to a reuse water tank and a new, taller water storage tank will be built on the site, Hood said.
Hood said Braselton’s reuse water system may be available to residences by the end of the year.
Town officials have said without storage tanks for reuse water, Braselton can’t provide reuse water to residences at all times — especially during peak in-demand times.
Braselton has about five to six miles of reuse water lines installed, namely in the newer residential sections of Chateau Elan and Clearwater Plantation in Hall County. Developers for other subdivisions — Riverstone, Mulberry Park and The Falls of Braselton — have donated land to the town for reuse water land application, instead of installing lines, according to town manager and clerk Jennifer Scott.
Hood said developers have the option to install reuse water lines in their subdivisions. By doing so, the developer’s one-time sewer tap fee is reduced, he added.
Reuse water is also about a third cheaper than drinking water to irrigate yards, Hood said. And, those using reuse water don’t have to follow restrictions for outdoor watering, he added.
Residences must have an underground irrigation system with a separate irrigation meter in place in order to use reuse water, Hood said.
Once Braselton begins providing reuse water to residences, the town plans to supply 500,000 gallons a day, Hood said.
Braselton’s wastewater treatment facility now has a capacity of 1.27 million gallons a day of sewer, although the town pumps about 500,000-700,000 gallons a day, Hood said. The town is designing an expansion project of the facility that will allow Braselton to treat 2.5 million gallons a day of sewer.
Reuse water in Braselton is first treated at the wastewater treatment plant, where it is also filtered and chlorine is added. There, reuse water is either pumped out of the system to the town’s sprayfield, Chateau Elan golf courses or reuse water distribution system. Reuse water that must be discharged into the Mulberry River also goes through a dechlorination process, Hood said.
