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Consultants find large unaccounted‑for water and excess sewer inflow; recommend targeted repairs and interlocal talks
Summary
Willis Engineers reported results of a yearlong asset inventory and assessment for Burke County’s water and sewer systems: extensive GIS mapping, smoke testing and flow monitoring found roughly 48% unaccounted‑for water in the largest water system and substantial excess sewer inflow in several basins. Consultants recommended targeted manhole/mainline repairs, meter replacements and refreshed interlocal agreements with municipal partners.
County‑commissioned consultants from Willis Engineers presented the findings of a yearlong asset inventory and assessment (AIA) for Burke County’s water and sewer systems, funded by a $500,000 appropriation from the North Carolina General Assembly.
"Every gallon of water we sell and every gallon of wastewater we process we're losing money," Chuck Willis said, summarizing the county’s enterprise‑funding challenge and the motivation for the study. Willis and Sydney Potter described a multi‑step field program that combined GIS mapping, flow monitoring, 11 temporary flow meters, smoke testing of roughly 50,000 linear feet of sewer, and planned CCTV inspections to scope mainline defects.
Willis reported that small systems commonly show modest levels of unaccounted‑for water (around 15%), but the Burke South water system — the county’s largest distribution network — displayed an unusually high unaccounted‑for rate of roughly 48%. "That's a huge number that's a number that needs to get corrected in some respects," Willis said, noting it likely reflects a combination of slow or inaccurate customer meters, billing/recording errors and some physical losses.
On the wastewater side the consultants found high levels of infiltration and inflow (I/I) during rain events. Willis said the Island Creek service area is sending about 36% more flow to Valdese than would be expected from county customers alone; Indian Hills appears to be transmitting roughly 50% more flow to Hickory than the county is billing its customers for. Those disparities mean the county pays treatment costs for flows it cannot recover from end users.
Sydney Potter described typical defects identified by smoke testing and field work — broken cleanout caps, degraded manholes and abandoned service lines discharging into creeks — and explained how the team will prioritize repairs. "Some of the defects are straightforward — broken cleanout caps — and some require CCTV to determine the extent of mainline damage," she said.
The consultants recommended a set of next steps: complete manhole inspections and CCTV to scope repairs; replace aging and under‑reading water meters; reconcile building‑system billing records against field data to resolve paper errors; install targeted permanent metering on larger municipal connections where practical; and negotiate refreshed interlocal agreements so upstream municipalities share costs for excess flow that originates in their systems. Willis cautioned that the $500,000 AIA appropriation is primarily intended for planning and reporting; construction and large‑scale capital work would need to be included as CIP items in future budgets.
Epley said the county will consider the AIA recommendations when drafting capital priorities for the next budget and that staff may include capital items to implement the AIA findings in the upcoming prioritization.
Ending: Consultants said they will return with final asset‑management deliverables (mapping, report and rate‑analysis recommendations) and recommended the board consider targeted capital items in the next CIP to fund prioritized repairs.
