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AUTHORITY HISTORY

In 1937, the Townships of Springfield, Ridley and Nether Providence and the Boroughs of Morton, Swarthmore, Rutledge, Prospect Park and Ridley Park created the Central Delaware County Authority.  The Authority, with the help of the Works Progress Administration, constructed trunk sewers and an effluent line to move the discharge of raw sewage that went into the Crum Creek, Little Crum Creek and Stoney Creek to the Delaware River.  The effluent line discharge point was located just south of the intersection of Darby Creek and the Delaware River, on the property of General Steel Casting.  Moving the wastewater discharge away from the public to a larger receiving water body protected the public health and the environment of the south central part of the county.

 On September 20, 1938, the Municipalities and the Authority signed an agreement to extend the effluent line 984 feet south along the river.  The move was to relocate the discharge below the water intake of General Steel Casting.  In addition, the 1938 agreement turned over the responsibility to operate and maintain the trunk line sewers to the Authority.

Just a few months later, the Municipalities and the Authority signed an agreement to construct the Crum Creek Pump Station.  This pump station and force main eliminated the overflows into the creek by transferring the flows from the Crum Creek Interceptor to the main effluent line.

By an agreement dated October 22, 1951, the Authority constructed a wastewater treatment plant to reduce the pollutant loading to the Delaware River.  A primary treatment plant, located on Sellers Ave. in Ridley Township, was constructed.  The plant was designed to remove and treat solid particles from the flow.  The treatment consisted of a series of grit removal channels and primary settling tanks.  No biological treatment was provided.  The settled sludge was treated in anaerobic digesters then dewatered on drying beds.

The Township of Marple joined the Authority in 1960.  This required that the trunk sewer line along the Crum Creek be  extended into the Township.  The line was constructed along Crum Creek, to the Delaware County Community College and a branch was extended along Trout Run, terminating just south of Route 3 (West Chester Pike and Media Line Road ).

On December 1, 1973, the Authority signed an agreement with the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority (DELCORA).  This agreement provided for the regionalization of sewage treatment at Philadelphia’s Southwest Treatment Plant.  DELCORA purchased the Authority’s Central Pump Station in Ridley Township.  After some modifications, the flows from the nine municipalities were diverted to the Philadelphia plant.  The Authority’s own plant was decommissioned and the land sold.

The Philadelphia wastewater treatment plant was designed to provide secondary treatment.  Secondary treatment added a biological process that the Authority's plant lacked.  Consequently, the quality of the water discharge to the Delaware River improved to meet the requirements of the newly enacted Federal Water Pollution Control Act.

Starting in 2001, negotiations with the Townships of Upper Providence and Newtown were initiated for the purpose of providing service to portions of those communities.  In 2003, a service agreement was signed with Newtown Township to accept up to 250,000 gallons per day from new developments being built.  In 2004, an agreement to accept up to17,000 gallons per day from Upper Providence was signed.  This agreement provides service to the homes along Farnum Road that are experiencing failing septic tanks.

Flows from CDCA pass through the Central Delaware Pump Station.  This facility is owned and operated by DELCORA.  The pump station was modified in 2003.  It now has the added capability to send CDCA's flows to the Western Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant, owned by DELCORA, as well as to the Philadelphia Southwest Water Pollution Control Plant.

Effective March 2009, the Authority welcomed the Townships of Edgmont, Newtown, and Upper Providence as authority members.  With their membership, the Authority will provide serve to the entire lower Crum Creek Watershed.