Zinc levels in Appomattox wastewater treatment plant exceed limit

Another town of Appomattox wastewater treatment plant has a metal problem, this time with high amounts of zinc in water discharged from the Water Reclamation Facility.

The problem first was noticed in October, when zinc amounts discharged at the plant were nearly double what the permit allows. The amount increased each month after, according to a violation notice sent to the town last month.

By January, the zinc amounts were four times what the permit allows.

The zinc amount isn’t hazardous to human health, but if enough of the metal accumulates in waterways, it could affect fish and other aquatic life.

When a plant reports four violations in six months, the Department of Environmental Quality will issue violation notices, said Marvin Booth, an enforcement officer with the agency. Ultimately, the DEQ will draft an order regarding the violations and give the town a reasonable amount of time to comply, but Booth said he didn’t have a timeframe for that.

“We’re unable to meet the conditions listed in the permit due to the corrosive nature of the water,” said Charles Garrett, the town’s chief wastewater operator. The permit allows up to 49 parts per billion of zinc in discharged water, but levels in January were as high as 199 parts per billion, Booth said.

Appomattox’s corrosive groundwater was the main reason for high copper amounts at the town’s other plant, which triggered DEQ to order the town to lower levels. The problem was solved recently by adding a simple chemical to the water at the trickling filter treatment plant that makes the copper much less toxic to aquatic life.

In response to the zinc issue, Town Council recently gave the go-ahead for water managers to change the chemical treatment at the wells. The treatment, Garrett said, will coat the pipes throughout the system in a way that won’t let the water leach out tiny amounts of metal as it flows through to the end of the line.

Additionally, Garrett said, the new treatment will cost less and if it works, could eliminate the need for additional chemical treatment at the wastewater plant for the copper issue.