Frequently Asked Questions - Sewer

How do I get sewer hooked up and how much does it cost?
What is wastewater?
How much wastewater is treated daily at the Grayson Wastewater Treatment Plant?
Can you drink the water after it has been treated at the wastewater treatment plant ?
Are the solids that you see in the wastewater treatment process human feces?
How is wastewater treated?
How do you know that the treated wastewater is safe to discharge in the Little Sandy River?
Can the AIDS virus live in wastewater?

 
Answers

Start Service
If you are a new customer in the city or service area, the appropriate deposit and paperwork must be presented in your name. All paperwork should be complete and accurate. To see details on the required deposit(s), view and print our new service form, or check to see if you are in our service area, click the appropriate link below:

Services Offered
Fees & Rates
New Utility Service Form 2005-A PDF File
Service Area Map PDF File

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Wastewater Defined
Wastewater is "used" water that comes from residential and commercial users. It contains sanitary waste from toilets, washing machines, dishwashers, sinks and other home uses. It may also contain chemicals from food wastes from commercial businesses. However, wastewater is about 99.9% water.

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Daily Volume of Wastewater Processed
An average of 1.0 million gallons of water is treated each day.

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Safety of Processed Wastewater for Consumption
No. Although the water looks clear and may appear safe to drink, there are still bacteria in the water that could make you sick. The water must go through a water treatment plant before people can drink it. Although wastewater must be treated at a water treatment plant before it is safe for human consumption, animals can drink, and fish can live in, wastewater after it has processed in the wastewater treatment plant.

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Human Waste
Some portions of the incoming solids are certainly human waste, but a lot of the solids come from food waste, lint, paper products, sand, grit, and other debris.

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Treatment Process
Incoming sewage is pumped into large basins where bacteria live. These bacteria use the wastewater as a food source, breaking down the sewage solids into simpler organic material. The solids are allowed to settle and the liquid is treated to remove pathogens (disease-causing agents) before it is discharged into the Little Sandy River. Most of the solids are returned to the basin where the bacteria live, but some are removed and disposed of in the landfill.

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Determining Treated Water Safety
The Kentucky Division of Water issues a discharge permit to the wastewater treatment plant which limits the amount of contaminates that can be discharged into the Little Sandy River. The discharge is monitored 24 hours a day during the week to verify that all permit limits are met.

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AIDS Virus
Studies a few years ago concluded that the AIDS virus could live for at least 24 hours in wastewater. Because untreated wastewater may contain many types of harmful pathogens (disease-causing agents), it is considered to be bio hazardous material and employees receive special training and immunizations to minimize the risk of exposure to disease-causing organisms.

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