The Rabun County Water & Sewer Authority (RCWSA) has plans for some much-needed upgrades to the Mountain City sanitary sewer system. Concurrent with the work being done on Highway 441 North by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GaDOT), the RCWSA is able to coordinate those upgrades with the GaDOT’s construction efforts, in order to save time and cost.

At present, the operations of Mountain City’s system begin with the Upper Cathey Road Lift Station (LS) pumping wastewater flow to the existing Lower Cathey Road LS, which then pumps south to the File Street LS. From the File Street LS, wastewater flows are pumped south to a manhole at the Rabun Flea Market. Finally, wastewater flows by gravity to the Stekoa Creek Water Reclamation Facility (SCWRF) south of Clayton. Currently, the SCWRF is operating close to capacity during rainfall events, limiting further development in the Clayton/south area.

The new operations will include a new File Street LS which will pump wastewater flow north to a new central manhole on Cathey Road near Blacks Creek. The Upper Cathey Road LS will also pump to this central manhole and the Lower Cathey Road LS will be eliminated. From this central manhole, utilizing gravity, wastewater flows will continue north along Blacks Creek to the N441 LS. From the N441 LS, wastewater flows are pumped to the Rabun County Water Reclamation Facility (RCWRF) north of Mountain City for treatment.

During road construction, the GaDOT will install a new force main from the File Street LS to the Cathey Road manhole, thereby saving the RCWSA both time and money in labor and direct costs for the force main.

The overall benefits of this system upgrade will be threefold. First, reducing the treatment demands on the SCWRF will allow for necessary upgrades at that facility to take place without compromising the quality of the treatment service provided. Second, freeing up capacity at the SCWRF will enable allocations for future needs in the Clayton/south areas. And lastly, by redirecting Mountain City’s wastewater flow north to the RCWRF, cost will be saved in both electrical demands and capital equipment maintenance.

This project is slated to begin in January of 2027 and completed by January of 2028. The cost of this project is estimated at $2.5M and will be funded through a grant from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA). The RCWSA is continually working to improve the operations of Rabun County’s water and wastewater systems in order to provide our community with the best possible service for generations to come. Investing in water and wastewater infrastructure is critical to ensuring public health, economic growth and environmental protection, both now and for the future.