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Frequently Asked Questions.
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General Frequently Asked Questions
The Stowe Regional Water Resource Recovery Facility is needed to meet the future anticipated wastewater demands that will result from population growth and continued land development in northwestern Mecklenburg County and eastern Gaston County. This project will streamline regional wastewater treatment services by replacing two older wastewater treatment plants, the Belmont Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Mount Holly Wastewater Treatment Plant, with a modern, highly-efficient water resource recovery facility
The Stowe Regional WRRF is scheduled for completion in 2026. Charlotte Water is carefully going through each project phase to ensure delivery of the most efficient treatment facility for our community.
The Stowe Regional WRRF will be carried out in two main project implementation phases. The first phase is currently underway and scheduled for completion in 2026. For the first phase of project implementation, construction has been divided into three key components:
- New pumping facilities are being constructed to bring Mount Holly wastewater to the existing Long Creek Pump Station.
- The new Stowe Regional WRRF will be constructed and have the capacity to process up to 15 million gallons of wastewater per day. Construction on the Stowe Regional WRRF is expected to begin in 2021.
- New pumping facilities will be constructed to bring Belmont wastewater flows to Charlotte Water facilities. The second phase of project implementation will focus on future expansion of the Stowe Regional WRRF. Phase 2 will expand the facility’s wastewater treatment capacity to be able to process 25 million gallons of wastewater per day. There is currently no established schedule for phase 2 of project implementation.
Public involvement is a very important part of the project development and implementation process! We will be hosting a variety of public involvement opportunities beginning in Fall 2020, including visioning workshops for our Community Project.
Charlotte Water will implement state-of-the-art technologies in the new facility, treating wastewater more efficiently than the facilities it replaces.
Charlotte Water customers will not experience any rate increases due to the construction of the Stowe Regional WRRF.
The total cost for all components of this Project are expected to be in excess of $510 million
This new water resource recovery facility will process and clean wastewater more effectively, ensuring that the treated water that we recycle into the Catawba River meets heightened water quality standards and nutrient removal goals. This new facility will comply with the Lake Wylie Total Maximum Daily Load nutrient management regulations that carefully limit the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that can be discharged into the Catawba River and Lake Wylie.
Charlotte Water currently operates five wastewater treatment facilities throughout Charlotte and Mecklenburg County that range from 12 million gallons per day (MGD) up to 64 MGD. This project will employ state-of-the-art technologies and highly efficient wastewater treatment approaches. The Stowe Regional WRRF will be able to process 15 MGD.
It is projected that initially and through the first 10 years, that about 20 to 25% of the treatment capacity at the new Stowe Regional WRRF will be used to treat wastewater flows from communities in Gaston County. As part of the respective intra-governmental service agreements between Charlotte Water and these municipalities, each project partner will pay for an appropriate share for the capital costs of the Project as well as daily treatment costs.
During this environmental review process, there was extensive analysis of several sites in Mecklenburg County and Gaston County to determine the best location for this new facility. That review process determined it was better to locate the new facility in Mecklenburg County for several reasons. The primary reason that the current site was selected as the location for the new facility is because the majority of wastewater that will be treated at the Stowe Regional WRRF will be generated in Mecklenburg County. Another reason for this site selection is because this site is located adjacent to Charlotte Water’s existing Long Creek Pump Station, which means this site provides seamless interconnection with other Charlotte Water facilities, and therefore be able to provide a higher level of reliability and redundancy in the future.
Many of Charlotte Water’s treatment facilities are adjacent to parks, biking trails and other amenities and we pride ourselves on being a good neighbor. For over 30 years, Charlotte Water has operated a large pumping facility (the Long Creek Pumping Station), which is adjacent to the U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) site. The existing USNWC trail network was constructed around the Long Creek Pump Station and to date there have not been any negative impacts associated with this facility. During construction of the Stowe Regional WRRF, trail visitors may notice some additional traffic related to facility construction. Charlotte Water and USNWC have agreed to communicate on schedules in order to minimize impacts to any events being held at the at Whitewater Center or construction activities occurring at the new Stowe Regional WRR Facility. The route alignments for the facility access road have been selected to minimize traffic and potential impacts.
Out of 50 miles of the current U.S. National Whitewater Center (USNWC) trail network, about 2.5 miles of trails extend onto City of Charlotte property. These 2.5 miles of trails were built under a joint-use agreement with Charlotte Water. There is also about 0.5 miles of trails that are part of the Carolina Thread Trail network that extend onto City of Charlotte property, which were also built under a joint-use agreement with Charlotte Water. Currently, Charlotte Water has been working with the Catawba Lands Conservancy (the organization that maintains the Carolina Thread Trails) and the USNWC to develop plans to reroute impacted trails and mitigate any potential impacts. Charlotte Water understands how important these trails are to the community and will continue to work with the USNWC and the Catawba Lands Conservancy to ensure that these trail networks continue to be a viable recreational resource and outdoor amenity for the community.
Due to significant traffic volumes on Whitewater Center Parkway, Charlotte Water determined that a dedicated access road to the Stowe Regional WRRF needed to be constructed in order to minimize the use of the Parkway. Currently, Charlotte Water is planning to reconstruct an abandoned NCDOT road and bridge over Long Creek as its primary access point.
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City of Belmont Frequently Asked Questions
In coordination with the construction of the Stowe Regional Water Resource Recovery Facility, Belmont will construct a new pumping facility to send wastewater flows to the Charlotte Water system. The new pumping facility will be built at the site of the current Belmont Wastewater Treatment Plant, allowing us to repurpose many of the existing structures.
Through the budget process, the fee schedule is determined by the City Council each year. Due to the many contributing factors of this project, the updated fees will not be determined until the end of the construction phase. For more information on current utilities, please visit https://www.cityofbelmont.org/departments/public-works/
- Consolidate three wastewater treatment plants into one state-of-the-art facility: Three wastewater plants currently operate alongside the same section of the Catawba River – two municipal plants in Mount Holly and Belmont and a private industrial wastewater plant. These plants are aging and require multiple upgrades to meet the expanding needs of our community. The new Stowe Facility will consolidate operations, add additional capacity and treat wastewater more efficiently than the current plants.
- Meet the growing needs of our community, processing 15 million gallons of wastewater per day: The Stowe Facility is the most feasible and cost-efficient solution for adding wastewater capacity for our area. It will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. more efficiently than the current plants.
- Be more energy efficient, reducing our carbon footprint: This facility represents a regional approach to a more cost-effective and environmentally conscious effort towards wastewater treatment services. It works towards our focus of building more sustainable and resilient communities.
- Contribute to our community: Charlotte Water is dedicated to implementing a Community Benefit Project on the land outside the Stowe Facility to serve as a resource and amenity for the Belmont community. The Online Workshop provides Belmont residents with an opportunity to participate in sharing their ideas for this project.
Contact the City of Belmont Water and Sewer Maintenance Supervisor Danny Whisnant at (704) 901-2073 or [email protected].
We are using horizontal directional drilling to install the wastewater pipelines. HDD is a safe, industry-preferred way to install pipelines under water because there is minimal ground disturbance. You can learn more about this construction process on our Wastewater Pipeline Installation page.
City of Mount Holly Frequently Asked Questions
Through the budget process, the fee schedule is determined by the City Council each year. Due to the many contributing factors of this project, the updated fees will not be determined until the end of the construction phase. For more information on our current utility fee schedule, please visit www.mtholly.us under the "Utilities" tab.
The new pumping station located on the current Wastewater Treatment site will be connected to Charlotte Water’s wastewater collection system through newly constructed force mains. These force mains will be 40-ft below the Catawba River water surface.
The City of Mount Holly will decommission the existing wastewater treatment facility, and a new pumping station will be constructed on the property. A wide variety of potential options are at the drawing table for what will become of our current Wastewater Treatment Plant site. Each of these is being explored and, ultimately, the City Council will vote on the best-fit solution for the Mount Holly community.
- Consolidate three wastewater treatment plants into one state-of-the-art facility: Three wastewater plants currently operate alongside the same section of the Catawba River – two municipal plants in Mount Holly and Belmont and a private industrial wastewater plant. These plants are aging and require multiple upgrades to meet the expanding needs of our community. The new Stowe Facility will consolidate operations, add additional capacity and treat wastewater more efficiently than the current plants.
- Meet the growing needs of our community, processing 15 million gallons of wastewater per day: The Stowe Facility is the most feasible and cost-efficient solution for adding wastewater capacity for our area. It will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. more efficiently than the current plants.
- Be more energy efficient, reducing our carbon footprint: This facility represents a regional approach to a more cost-effective and environmentally conscious effort towards wastewater treatment services. It works towards our focus of building more sustainable and resilient communities.
- Contribute to our community: Charlotte Water is dedicated to implementing a Community Benefit Project on the land outside the Stowe Facility to serve as a resource and amenity for the Belmont community. The Online Workshop provides Belmont residents with an opportunity to participate in sharing their ideas for this project.