Some emails on the permit application appear to be uploaded as a .msg file. It took a fair bit of work to find an app or online service that would render the file. Here is a PDF version of what I was able to render along with the attachment files.

Email: DWR Acceptance of WQ Modeling for Lick Creek

Permit information page for the Tennessee Division of Water Resources for this project can be found at https://dataviewers.tdec.tn.gov/pls/enf_reports/f?p=9034:34051::::34051:P34051_PERMIT_NUMBER:TN0082376

This page includes all the official files and updates.

I haven’t had a chance to dig through the details yet but it looks like there is a lot of good detail in the report. I encourage everyone to dig into it. Scrolling through it quickly I found at the end this statement:

Discussions about this project with community leaders have been ongoing for several years, and all agree that this project is necessary for the continued growth of the area.

Water Management Services

I’ve been looking for other sewage treatment plant permits to see what kind of details might be relevant to get myself up to speed. I haven’t necessarily found what I’m looking for but I did learn a few things along the way and found Centerville’s sewage treatment plant permit page.

Centerville sewage treatment plant permit: https://dataviewers.tdec.tn.gov/pls/enf_reports/f?p=9034:34051::::34051:P34051_PERMIT_NUMBER:TN0024937

Centerville sewage treatment plant site information page: https://dataviewers.tdec.tn.gov/pls/enf_reports/f?p=9034:34031::::34031:P34031_SITE_ID:5165

Reading through a specific document for the plant: https://dataviewers.tdec.tn.gov/pls/enf_reports/apex_util.count_click?p_url=BGWPC.GET_WPC_DOCUMENTS?p_file=170481024300126083&p_cat=DOCS&p_id=170481024300126083&p_user=APEX_PUBLIC_USER&p_workspace=19833722515258996

• This document from 2008
• estimated 75,000 gallons/day treated with chlorine
• sewage only, not storm runoff
• population served 3,500
• BOD removal rate 85% (BOD: biological oxygen demand)

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To find this I was able to get help from Liz Campbel again who was really helpful. If you load up the Tennessee Division of Water Resources (DWR) permit search page https://dataviewers.tdec.tn.gov/pls/enf_reports/f?p=9034:34001 you should see a big list.

To see everything for Hickman county, add a new filter and then set the county = Hickman in the drop down or type in the name.

My new favorite query though is to filter by “Receiving Stream”. Be sure to be careful since the expression appears to be case sensitive. Also there is another Lick Creek in another county that is not the same so you may need to combine this filter with the county filter.

If we want to see the active permits related to the Lick Creek stream in Hickman county, we will see that as of today, there are only 3. This is great because none of these are to dump sewage into Lick Creek.

I realized that I don’t know much about how waste water treatment works so I set out to learn more. The following are some of the resources that I used to get a better basic understanding.

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EPA 6 page pamphlet on the basics from 1998: How Wastewater Treatment Works… The Basics

EPA Effluent Guidelines: https://www.epa.gov/eg

EPA Municipal Wastewater: https://www.epa.gov/npdes/municipal-wastewater

YouTube – How does Wastewater treatment work? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDtUpkMqu6E

YouTube – Wastewater: Where does it go? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaXth88i7rk

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What are some interesting things I learned?

• Some wastewater treatment plants process both waste water and storm water. Will this new plant handle both?
• Will the plant do emergency discharge events during heavy rainfall dumping raw untreated sewage into the creek? If it handles storm water, the answer is yes.
• Waste water treatment plants are not designed to treat chemicals that can be in your pharmaceuticals or your personal care products. The purpose is to remove solids and pathogens.
• Will disinfection be done utilizing chlorine, ozone, or UV?
• According to one video there are/were 14748 treatment plants in the USA.