Waste Water
Wastewater Superintendent
Brandon Averill
44 North Forest Street
Geneva, OH 44041
Phone: 440-466-4228
Fax: 440-466-0672
Hours: Monday-Friday 7:00am to 3:30pm
Ordinances & Information
NOTICE: Notice of Issuance of a Limited Environmental Review and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact to All Interested Citizens, Organizations, and Government Agencies.
Geneva SR 534 SRS LER
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Annual Report 2016
Ordinance 1042, Sewers
Ordinance 1050, Grease Control
Ordinance 3153-Replacing 1043, Industrial Pretreatment
The more you know, the less you’ll flush!
Baby wipes are one of the most common items improperly flushed down the toilet. Baby wipes can cause damage to a home’s plumbing, septic systems, and public sewer systems. Other products, such as paper towels and facial tissues, also should be disposed of in the trash, not the toilet!
Learn more about the non-flushable products that are clogging your pipes and what’s being done to prevent that by all kinds of people: manufacturers of paper and nonwoven products, water quality organizations, towns, sewer utilities and districts, environmental groups, and others.
Remember, if you’re not sure how a product should be disposed of, err on the side of caution and place it in the trash.
Watch this funny video on what not to flush: http://youtu.be/8dMn6uQOg-4.
Sewer Problem
If you suspect a sewer problem at your home, call the Wastewater Plant at (440) 466-4228. lf it is after hours please call the Geneva Police Department at (440) 466-1111. They will immediately page a member of the wastewater department’s staff who will identify the source of the problem. If the problem is in an area outside our area of responsibility, we can provide you with guidance in correcting your problem.
Wastewater Payment
Wastewater payments can be mailed or paid at City Hall, 44 North Forest Street, Monday-Friday between the hours of 8:15am and 5:00pm. There is a drop box by the door, if you are paying by check after hours.
Moving to the City
Please contact (440) 466-4675. There is a $10.00 initial reading charge.
Fees
Throughout 2017, the first 0-200 cubic foot are billed at $11.75, each additional 100 cubic feet is $5.88. Outside Rate-The first 0-200 cubic foot are billed at $17.63, each additional 100 feet is $8.82.
Summary of Rate Changes 2016-2021
Tap-in/change of use fees:
All new construction or a change to an existing building that will significantly increase your water usage requires a tap-in fee to be paid to the City. This permit is required before you can secure any building or plumbing permits from the county. Contact the Wastewater Plant for a calculation of those charges. In determining tap-in fees, the City uses Table A-1 in the Ohio Administrative Code, Section 1042-42.05.
New Construction and Repairs
All work on sanitary sewers, including small repairs to private laterals, requires a permit and inspection. What you do on your line has the potential to affect everyone upstream and downstream.
Our construction standards for sanitary sewer work are shown in our Wastewater Department Details. For laterals (the line from your house or building to the main), see the Handout for Sanitary Lateral Work and Details 10, 12, and 13. For Sanitary sewer mains, see Detail 1-9 and 11. There are additional requirements on construction outside City limits that connects to Geneva sewers. Feel free to contact the Wastewater Department should you require further guidance or clarification. Handout for Sanitary Lateral Work and Details.
Swimming Pool Credit
A seasonal credit for filling a swimming pool that is over 3′ deep is allowed if there is no past due balance, call for a swimming pool credit form. Remember to write down the beginning and ending meter read.
Additional Information
More specific information regarding applications, charges and fees can be obtained by contacting the Administrative Offices at (400) 466-4675, Monday-Friday, 8:00am-5:00pm or at City Hall, 44 North Forest Street, Geneva.
The department administers an Ohio EPA approved “Pretreatment Program”. Any industrial/commercial user discharging into the City’s collection system is obligated to comply with the conditions defined in this regulation. The City of Geneva welcomes and encourages new development and industry to our community.
Treatment is achieved through a trickling filter process, followed by advanced treatment. The effluent is discharged into Cowles Creek. This stream has been designated by the Ohio EPA as a low flow, warm water, and salmonoid habitat. This treatment facility consistently meets the ever-stringent water quality standards imposed by this receiving stream.
Geneva Wastewater Treatment Plant
The City of Geneva Wastewater Treatment Plant consists of a collections system and the treatment plant. The collection system includes about 38.3 miles of gravity sewers ranging from 6” to 30,” 823 manholes, 5 lift stations, and 1.4 miles of pressurized (force) mains. The treatment plant is designed to process 2 Million Gallons per Day (MGD), with wet weather flows of up to 5 MGD.
We provide service within the city limits to approximately 2,500 residential, commercial, and industrial customers. With the approval of the Ashtabula County Board of Commissioners, acting on behalf of the Ashtabula County General Sewer District, we also provide service to some areas outside city limits including the Austin Road Mobile Home Park, Deerfield Apartments, the Pebblebrook Subdivision, the Old Orchard Allotment, and two (soon to be three) Joint Economic Development districts. Still, we have the capacity to accept more growth.
The department administers an Ohio EPA approved “Pretreatment Program” as well as an oil & grease control program, both administered by our departmental pretreatment coordinator. Any industrial or commercial user discharging into the City’s collection system is obligated to comply with the conditions defined in this regulation. The City of Geneva welcomes and encourages new development and industry to our community.
The plant operates under NPDES Permit 3PD00014. The current permit and compliance data can be seen by clicking the Ashtabula County area and selecting “Geneva WWTP” from the Individual NPDES Permits.
Your Wastewater collection system and treatment plant need your help!
In recent years, there has been an overwhelming proliferation of “disposable” items. You probably use some of these such as disinfecting wipes, personal hygiene products, baby wipes, infant and adult diapers, make-up removers, paper towels and many other fibrous sheet products. We use them and throw them away. Where we throw them is a major concern. One place you absolutely should not throw them is in the toilet even if they are marked flushable.
These products are made and advertised as strong enough to resist shredding or falling apart. This is why they do their job but also why they shouldn’t end up in the wastewater collection system. If it doesn’t break apart or shred, it can catch in the sewer pipes causing a blockage in pipes of any size. Result: your home or even your neighborhood could have raw sewage back up into your basement or crawl space. If they make it as far as a lift station or your treatment plant, they are capable of stopping even 30 horsepower pumps.
We have all seen the ads for toilets that can flush a bucket of golf balls or a bag of dog food. Two thoughts on that: first, just because it leaves the toilet doesn’t mean it will pass through the pipes, and, second, just because it can flush that much doesn’t mean it should! The combination of new toilets and disposable products is costing wastewater facilities here and across the country tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year at each facility. Within the treatment plant here in Geneva, we have had to install two special chopper pumps at costs of $13,000 and $18,000 respectively. We are facing the replacement of the pump system in a lift station at a materials cost of more than $25,000. We find more and more collection system blockages that are caused by the combination of these wipes and old pipes or roots.
These fixes and repairs are paid for by your monthly user fees and affect your rate structure. To protect the treatment plant by screening out these products, we are looking at an estimated cost of $1,920,000! That is more than $768 per customer. It is always cheaper to prevent pollution at its source rather than treating it. The only proper place to dispose of these products is in the trash can.
Thank you for your help.
To see the latest in news regarding “flushables”, visit the following site: http://news.wef.org/associations-collaborate-to-address-wipes-flushability/
To view some slightly older news, check out the “fatberg” link if you have the stomach. It has also been featured in videos such as: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef9lrDkeXZ0
Wastewater Links
United States Environmental Protection Agency www.epa.gov
Ohio EPA www.epa.ohio.gov
Water Environment Federation www.wef.org
Ohio Water Environment Association www.ohiowea.org
OEPA Limited Environmental Review Availability Notice