Okay, so maybe YOU don’t drink it, but someone downstream of you probably will. 

 

Here’s how it works…

 

Our city, like many others, gets its drinking water from reservoirs (lakes and rivers). Concord’s three main reservoirs are Lake Fisher, Coddle Creek/Lake Howell. Two City owned & operated water treatment plants clean up the lake & river water so that it’s safe for us to drink.

 

The water is piped to our homes and used for cleaning and drinking. The used water travels down our shower drains, sink drains and toilets through the wastewater system. Wastewater pipes lead to wastewater treatment plants, managed by the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC). WSACC treats wastewater until it meets state and federal discharge requirements and releases it back into local bodies of water.

 

Basically we send our (cleaned) wastewater to our downstream neighbors to drink, and we drink the wastewater of our upstream neighbors.

 

Where does the dumping part come in? Two ways, actually; it’s important for us to be cognizant of what we’re sending down the drains of our homes. But, it’s even more important that we are aware of what’s going into our storm drains. Unlike the wastewater system, the storm drainage system DOES NOT connect with any wastewater treatment plant. The storm drainage system skips that part. Water from our storm drains empties directly into our local bodies of water. 

 

The golden rule applies in this situation, too. Dump upstream of others as you would have them dump upstream of you! Make sure only rain goes down the drain.