Published: March 20, 2008 08:51 pm         

Tansi wastewater management plan approved by state

State OKs temporary use of old septic system for Cabin Point until new cutting-edge technology system is installed

As the only logical option remaining, sewer installation is beginning to take shape in Lake Tansi. During cabin reconstruction this winter, the state of Tennessee notified the Lake Tansi Property Owners Association that they will not permit the use of existing septic systems at Cabin Point.

Available land for use by any new septic tank systems for POA building projects has been deemed inadequate for the scope of the projects. This decision came on the heels of the state previously telling Tansi officials that they could design a septic consolidation system for the cabins utilizing some of the current septic systems. Upon further review, the permit to include the current septic systems was denied.

This latest state directive has prompted Lake Tansi officials to turn to Environmental & Civil Engineering Services (ECE) of Crossville, to help devise a plan for wastewater management.

Thursday evening, two principals from ECE hosted an informational meeting at the Lake Tansi Thunderbird center to present their recommendations. Chuck Burgess, P.E.and Scott Christian, P. E., both environmental engineers, spent their evenings helping those in attendance understand the design and the costs to manage wastewater for the Tansi POA amenities.

They described the realities of the state permitting system on waste water management and followed with proposals to mitigate not only the current new cabin construction but also expandable to include the seven other amenity areas that will need attention in the near future. They propose both a short-term solution and a long-term plan.

The short term solution will design a sewer system for the 12 new rental cabins called "Pump and Haul." "You can begin construction on this system while we go through the permitting system," Burgess said. The design will discharge waste into a pump system and be "pumped" to a tanker located at Fisherman's Point which will then be removed by truck and "hauled" to the sewer treatment plant in Crossville.

The recommended long-term solution is to tap into cutting edge technology that uses "beneficial re-use of wastewater" through a cleaning system, the wastewater will be disinfected and returned to irrigate the golf course at Tansi. The golf course currently uses 26 million gallons of irrigation water from Lake Hiawatha annually. After filtering and disinfection, the new wastewater will be returned to Lake Hiawatha and be much cleaner than the current lake water. The wastewater being discharged into Lake Hiawatha will be ororless in such a small amount that it will not affect plants, fish, or fowl that are using the lake.

A membrane treatment process described as a "Bio-reactor" will be installed at the new maintenance area to filter, and disinfect the wastewater, creating a clean effluent. "The footprint of the unit is around 20' by 20' and does not require much additional yearly maintenance other than cleaning," according to Burgess. Total cost of both projects will be around $856,000.