Deltaville sewer cost projections lowered

by Tom Chillemi –

A water system is coming to Deltaville. A sewer system is in the future.

A preliminary engineering report released this month by Timmons Engineering has trimmed Middlesex County’s costs for a wastewater collection system in Deltaville to $12.9 million.

By using a “low pressure system” the installation will cost significantly less than the $29.3 million for a “vacuum” system, according to Lud Kimbrough, who has served as chairman of a sewer committee that has been researching alternative and cheaper collection systems for two years.

Big picture 

The HRSD main line costs are estimated at $31 million, states a January 2020 report to Middlesex supervisors. HRSD’s costs will be repaid by customers.

While HRSD will build the main line, the county will build and operate the collections systems that deliver the wastewater to the main line. An earlier study estimated the cost for a “vacuum” collection system at $32 million for Deltaville.

The low pressure system requires each customer to install a “grinder,” which will cost about $5,000 plus installation, said Kimbrough. The customer will pay for the grinder and pipes to get the wastewater to the county’s collection line. Sewer service customers must be on a metered water system. For this reason, the sewer lines could follow the water lines that have been installed recently.

Long-term goal

About 10 years ago, Middlesex supervisors designated areas where sewer service was desirable. In 2021, the board authorized designing a collection system for Topping that will serve primarily Grey’s Point Camp, with 770 campsites and plans for expansion and also serve the county-owned Hummel Field airport in Topping. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has approved a loan of $2.5 million with an interest rate of 1% for a 20-30 year term for the Topping system, said Kimbrough.

The county’s estimated cost to build other collection systems include:

• Cooks Corner — $2.6 million.
• Hartfield — $4.9 million.
• Saluda — $500,000.

For about four years, the county has been budgeting $850,000 annually for sewer. This amount could be used to repay debt of up to $19 million, officials have stated in the past.
Kimbrough’s email said he would report to the board of supervisors at its April 5 meeting, which will be on YouTube.