WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Clean drinking water is important — it’s essential to everyday life.
But what happens after using that water is equally important.
“If you could imagine your morning without your cup of coffee, or imagine your morning without the bathroom or the ability to take a shower — those are everyday home activities that you need sewer service for,” Lehigh County Authority Chief Executive Officer Liesel Gross said.
“But then broaden your thought into our local economy and then the jobs and the products that rely on safe drinking water and sewer service — safe schools, safe hospitals.
“All of those things really rely on utilities being well run and having safe, reliable water supply as well as sewer service.”
Gross on Tuesday gave a presentation about the authority’s Kline’s Island Sewer System, or KISS, regional wastewater plan during an open house at Whitehall High School.
The plan, estimated to cost more than $300 million, seeks to overhaul and upgrade aging water and wastewater infrastructure across more than a dozen Lehigh County municipalities.
With approval needed from each governing body to move forward, officials have scheduled a handful of open houses this month to collect feedback and answer questions from residents on the draft plan.
Prior generations invested heavily in this regional system, and it's time to reinvest so that we can enjoy the quality of life that we have today for future generations.Liesel Gross, CEO of the Lehigh County Authority
“For a system that is now reaching 50 or 100 years old, it's really time to reinvest,” Gross said.
“Prior generations invested heavily in this regional system, and it's time to reinvest so that we can enjoy the quality of life that we have today for future generations.
“And we've been working on this plan now for quite a few years, and we're really just pleased to roll out some of the details to the public now.”
Tuesday’s open house, the third in the series, was sparsely attended, with more authority staff than residents.
‘A regional system’
Inside the high school’s cafeteria, there were five stations for participants to explore, each staffed with two authority employees.
After checking in at the first, people found the second station focused on an explanation of the service area.
Fifteen municipalities are included in the plan — covering a huge swath of the county from Allentown to Alburtis and Weisenberg to Hanover townships — all with their own unique needs for wastewater infrastructure improvements.
And the Kline’s Island Sewer System on Union Street in Allentown, where all the wastewater flows, also is in need of work.
“These municipalities are all interconnected with one another,” Gross said during the presentation.
“All of the sewage generated from homes and businesses in these communities flow down to the Allentown treatment plant for final treatment. So it is a regional system.
“We're serving 270,000 people every day. On average, we treat about 32 million gallons of wastewater every single day.”
The third station focused on plant work and interceptors, with diagrams and posters illustrating capacity issues. Aging pipes crack and leak, letting rain or groundwater take up space.
If the pipes are overloaded, raw sewage can flow out.
“We can have a situation where the plant becomes overwhelmed and we're discharging raw sewage into the environment,” Gross said.
“So the environmental concern there is significant, and of course, our state regulators have taken notice of this and are working with us to ensure that we have a plan that meets their requirements and addresses those problems.”
The fourth station featured information about maintaining the system, including video of cracked or blocked pipes.
There is 1,000 miles of pipeline for staff to monitor for issues, said Joe Younes, the authority’s manager of field services.
In addition to aging pipes, there’s also other variables, such as root growth, as well as other things sent down the drain that shouldn’t — such as flushable wipes and cooking grease.
“We can suck out the grease as much as we can, and put some degreaser into the line,” he said. “For the roots, we have a root cutter that goes in and just cuts out the roots. We can also inject spray into the line to prevent the growth of the roots.”
The last station focused on the financial impacts. While individual rates are not yet available for residents, posters showed a steady increase in costs through 2040.
“We expect about $100 million worth of work to take place over the next 10 years to address the leakage in the system,” Gross said.
“And then, as we're working on removing the leakage from the system, we still have some work to do on the major regional components of this system.”
Those regional components include Kline’s Island, as well as some interceptors.
The current annual operating cost for the system — excluding an industrial pretreatment plant in Upper Macungie Township — is just over $18 million.
“If we don't take action, well, I think it's fairly obvious what will happen,” Gross said. “Pipes will not get younger by themselves, and so the condition of the pipes will get worse if we don't correct the problem.
“That will result in additional environmental problems, the overflows will continue or worsen.”
‘Work through these issues together’
The plan is “the largest investment our community has ever made in environmental protection and protecting public health,” Gross said.
“We will be very pleased to solve this problem, to make this investment,” Gross said. “But it will require the community to come together and work through these issues together.”
Authority officials expect to refine the plan, including rate projections, early next year. Once municipal officials approve each plan, it’ll be sent to the state Department of Environmental Protection for approval.
David Wodyka, of Bethlehem, asked whether the budget included costs to homeowners who have pipes connected to the system.
“The pipe that runs essentially from the curb line into the house, for the most part, is privately owned, but each municipality has different ordinances and different cutoff points in terms of what work they're going to do,” Gross said.
Another question asked focused on the pretreatment plant at 7676 Industrial Road, Upper Macungie Township. Previous plans included a complete overhaul, but the authority has been working with industries near the plant to chart the best course forward.
With the plan for a total overhaul of the plant struck down — estimated to cost $267 million — two options remain, costing an estimated $93 million and $32 million, respectively.
There are three more open houses scheduled: 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday in Delta Hotels by Marriott in Fogelsville, 9:30-11 a.m. Saturday in Fearless Fire Company in Allentown and 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday in Lower Macungie Community Center.
Residents can contact the authority at KISS537@lehighcountyauthority.org or 610-398-2503, extension 164 if accommodations are needed.
