Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

Banner Elk Wastewater Treatment Key to Future Growth

Story by Ron Fitzwater

Maintaining an efficient and effective sanitary wastewater treatment program in Banner Elk has become a priority for town officials. Currently the facility is undergoing a full system repair and inspection process intended to locate any damage or shortcomings and take steps to correct them. The facility was renovated and upgraded in the late 1990s. “Sanitary wastewater is highly taken for granted and misunderstood, but it is what truly separates us from the third world,” said Banner Elk Town Manager Hugh Montgomery. “Sanitary wastewater is what keeps us healthy and enables us to live close together without getting sick.”

The town operates an extended-air wastewater treatment process, a process that introduces bacteria with air into the system. The bacteria break down the solids in the wastewater as the flow moves through the system. Ultra-violet light kills viruses in the water; this method versus chlorine is more effective, cost efficient and safer for the environment. After treatment, the water is discharged into the Elk River.

One of the current tests being conducted at the town’s wastewater facility involves running all the wastewater through only one side of the aeration basin system, mimicking maximum capacity use. Operators are collecting data, and the aeration basin offline is receiving its first thorough cleaning in 14 years. “The operators are nervous,” said Montgomery. “They don’t have the benefit of the entire infrastructure down there, because only one side of the aeration basins is open, but that is giving us a chance to feel the true capability of this plant.”

The test, though only in its first month, is yielding valuable data. “What we know is when our average daily flow reaches about 480,000 gallons, we are done. That’s all we can realistically take on a daily average,” Montgomery said. However, this limit is not a significant concern at this time. “When all the houses are built that are approved for construction right now, we will be in the 340,000 gallon a day range,” leaving an approximate 140,000 gallon capacity that is manageable but “not large enough to be comfortable,” Montgomery said.

Wastewater treatment has its limitations. Several small processing systems discharge into the Elk River Basin. Along with Banner Elk, Elk River community and Elk Park discharge into the Class C trout water. “So what we know is that the ability of that stream to take additional municipal wastewater is a limiting factor on the growth of Banner Elk and this entire end of the county. That is a definite defining factor,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery asked that all town citizens remember “not to use their toilets for trashcans. Don’t put inorganic materials in the system; they clog it and cause additional maintenance time and money to clear. Wastewater treatment in Banner Elk like everywhere else is a finite resource and to replace it will be very, very expensive. We need to Shepherd our resources and always remember that without a wastewater treatment facility, we become a third world country.”