Sewer Utility
Collection Systems
The key consideration for the proposed changes is the more equitable distribution of the sewer rate between residential customers (whom make up ~ 90% of our customer base) and non-residential customers than under the previous rate model.
The proposed amendments will complete the move to a hybrid Base Rate + Discharge Rate model similar to those used in other municipalities. The Base Rate will be based on a single family home discharging 40,000 gallons of wastewater a year. This ensure that all customers are paying a common base rate with allowance for larger users.
Documents
Sewer Permit Single Home Connection Charges
Avonport - $4000
Wolfville Ridge Hamlet - $5000
Greenwich Road South - $4000
Treatment Plants
There are eight sewer treatment plants located at the following locations: Hants Border, Avonport, Canning, Aldershot, New Minas, Waterville, Aylesford and Greenwood. Of the eight sewage treatment plants, the largest is the Regional sewage treatment plant located in New Minas. This particular plant services the town of Kentville, the Village of New Minas, Coldbrook, Greenwich and a number of private industries. The users pay for the operational and capital costs of this plant under an agreed cost sharing formula.
Other Municipal waste water treatment plants treat sewage from one or more communities such as the Aldershot and Waterville Sewage Treatment Plants. There is an agreement with the Greenwood Sewage Treatment Plant and Department of National Defense where the Department contributes 55% of ongoing operating costs in return for treatment of 14 Wing Greenwood sewage. In September of 1997, the Municipality opened the septage waste disposal facility adjacent to the Waterville sewage treatment plant to treat all residential/commercial septage generated in Kings County from residential/commercial septic systems and holding tanks. The network of piping and sewage lift stations leading to these waste water treatment plants consist of some 90 km of collector and force main piping.
Monitoring & Inspections
The Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour, the regulatory authority, requires compliance monitoring at each waste water treatment plant. Municipal Staff collect, test and analyze samples at the Regional treatment plant lab facility on a weekly basis and submit the results on a monthly basis to the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour. In the case of the Regional sewage system, the industrial users are sampled on a daily/weekly basis and are used to apportion costs to each user.
Daily inspections and repairs to all systems are carried out by our Staff and a 24- hour on-call system is in effect at all times to ensure the public's access. A computerized central monitoring system (S.C.A.D.A.) constantly scans each station and reports any alarms during working hours or after hours.
Keep "flushable" wipes out of the pipes:
It is critical that wipes of any sort - including those labelled "Flushable", "Disposable", or "Biodegradable" - are not flushed down the toilet or drains.
Our municipal sewer systems are negatively impacted by the flushing of wipes and other inorganic products. Pump stations are being clogged, and aeration equipment is being blocked. The only way to clear the obstructions is to disassemble pumps and equipment, and physically remove the sewer debris by hand. This leads to a significant increase in maintenance costs, odours in communities, and puts your home and/or place of business at risk of a sewer backup.
The Municipality of the County of Kings thanks our staff for their continued efforts in keeping municipal services and infrastructure functioning. We ask you to please do your part by keeping wipes and inorganic products of all sorts out of the sewer system.
Audio Files