The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management (DWM), established in 1942, services over 5,000 miles of water and wastewater pipes in the county system of Georgia. The DWM maintains and operates several major facilities throughout the county in an effort to protect the public health, safety and welfare throughout the community.
In response to the development of the Peachtree Station Shopping Center in Chamblee, Ga., the DWM proposed the Sewer Action Plan to address the limited sanitary sewer capacity in that specific area. This proposal provided a viable solution to the downstream sanitary sewer capacity issues in the DeKalb County system in order to allow the construction of the proposed Peachtree Station shopping center. The existing downstream sewer system lacked the adequate sewer capacity during rainfall events. The proposed sewer action plan included the construction of sewer holding tanks within the Peachtree Station shopping center project area to store the sewerage flow from the retail and commercial buildings during rainfall events which would then be released after the rainfall event had ended and during off-peak hours.
The property, located on over 11 acres, originally consisted of several miscellaneous retail buildings which were demolished in order to make way for the property enhancements including the new 106,864 sq ft, retail shopping center. The sanitary sewer overflow system, once released, would flow into the existing public sewer line along the Peachtree Road right-of-way to match the flow path from the previous buildings on the site.
The engineer considered several options, including concrete vaults and fiberglass tanks. Ultimately, a DuroMaxx steel reinforced PE (SRPE) tank manufactured by Contech Engineered Solutions was selected to contain the sanitary sewer overflow. DuroMaxx provided many benefits over other options considered, including fast installation, lower expense, smaller footprint, watertight construction, durability and lightweight material.
