ONWASA WASTEWATER PERFORMANCE · SEPTEMBER 9, 2026
What ONWASA’s 2025 wastewater report shows
The official report documents a Holly Ridge–Summerhouse capacity crisis, recurring compliance problems elsewhere, and major unanswered questions about how much growth the system can accept today.
The bottom line
Summerhouse treated no wastewater during 2025. Its flow was redirected to Holly Ridge, which averaged 104% of its permitted disposal capacity and recorded repeated flow and spray-field violations.
The report does not prove that every ONWASA plant is out of capacity or that every exceedance caused environmental harm. It does show that capacity is not interchangeable across the county and that future projects cannot be counted as available capacity until they are permitted, constructed, commissioned and performing.
Facility snapshot
| Facility | Average use | Maximum day | Main concern |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holly Ridge | 104% | 165% | Nine monthly flow exceedances and spray-field overloading |
| Summerhouse | 0% | 0% | Offline all year; zero flow is not spare capacity |
| North Topsail / Southeast Regional | 61% | 102% | Repeated nutrients, ammonia, blower and disposal-field problems |
| Northwest Regional / Richlands | 37% | 134% | Wet-weather peaks and repeated fecal exceedances |
| Swansboro | 68% | 110% | Recurring aeration problems and dependence on Camp Lejeune transfer |
| Webb Creek / Hubert | 65% implied | 91% | No violations reported, but the printed flow figures conflict |
A maximum day above nominal capacity is evidence of peak stress, not automatically a permit violation. Permit averaging periods and conditions control.
1. Holly Ridge and Summerhouse
Holly Ridge reported an average of 0.250 million gallons per day against 0.240 MGD of permitted disposal capacity. It recorded monthly average influent-flow violations in nine months and overloaded multiple spray fields in November and December. The stated cause was repeatedly the same: Summerhouse remained offline and its wastewater was redirected to Holly Ridge.
Summerhouse’s “zero violations” should not be read as successful performance. It treated zero wastewater for the entire year. The report also says one disposal basin is unusable because of impervious clay while another requires hydrogeologic analysis before a higher loading rate can be pursued. New membrane equipment does not, by itself, solve inadequate disposal capacity.
2. The planned regional solution has its own problems
North Topsail / Southeast Regional averaged about 61% of permitted capacity, but the report documents recurring nitrogen, ammonia, phosphorus, spray-field-loading and groundwater issues. Failing pre-aeration blowers were cited repeatedly. This is the plant ONWASA intends to expand to 3.5 MGD and use for regional consolidation, so equipment reliability and disposal capacity matter as much as the treatment number.
If North Topsail’s current average and the flow presently handled at Holly Ridge were combined, they would equal roughly 77% of North Topsail’s existing capacity—before additional development and normal peak allowances. That is a planning illustration, not a claim that all of those flows can presently be transferred.
3. Other operating concerns
- Northwest Regional: Its low annual average masks a maximum day of 1.710 MGD—about 3.65 times average flow—and repeated fecal, BOD, ammonia and nitrogen problems tied to rain, equipment, solids and reduced detention time.
- Swansboro: Recurring aeration and rotor problems continued. Its planned retirement depends on the Highway 24 force main and a firm Camp Lejeune treatment allocation that must be documented.
- Webb Creek / Hubert: No violations were reported, but the total annual gallons imply approximately 0.227 MGD rather than the printed 0.237 MGD. The report also lists 603 additional residential connections while total flow declined, which requires explanation.
- Collection system: ONWASA operates approximately 333 miles of pipe and 207 pump stations. The same Canvasback Lane location reported a 17,000-gallon spill in 2024 and a 5,000-gallon spill in 2025.
4. The report appears late—and some figures do not reconcile
The certification page is signed by Deputy Chief Operations Officer Seth A. Brown and dated August 28, 2026. N.C.G.S. § 143-215.1C(a) requires a covered calendar-year report to be provided within 60 days after year-end. That made March 1, 2026 the apparent deadline. This copy was certified 180 days later.
That proves the date on this copy, not conclusively that ONWASA failed to distribute an earlier one. Unless ONWASA produces an earlier version and proof of delivery to customers and DEQ, the report appears facially late.
- Webb Creek’s printed average conflicts with its annual total and utilization percentage.
- Swansboro’s annual total does not produce the printed average.
- Several flow and connection figures differ from state planning records.
- The report contains inconsistent system counts and permit terminology.
- Statements of “no known environmental impact” are not accompanied by supporting impact-assessment data.
The number the report does not provide
How much capacity remains after existing customers, approved but unconnected developments, pending will-serve requests, peak-flow allowances and collection-system constraints?
Adding all six plant capacities together produces an apparent systemwide utilization of about 55%, but that number is not usable for development decisions. Separate collection areas, pump stations, permits and disposal methods prevent unused capacity in one location from automatically solving a shortage somewhere else.
Any claim of available capacity should identify the exact service area, collection route, pump stations, receiving plant, applicable permit, current flow, peak allowance and already committed development.
What Hubert United is requesting next
- Current used, unused, committed-but-unconnected and pending capacity by service area and development.
- Holly Ridge capacity-trigger evaluations, permits, schedules and DEQ allocation decisions.
- Summerhouse disposal-basin studies, permit modification and commissioning records.
- Southeast Regional expansion permits, disposal plan, flow model, schedule and contingency plan.
- The operative Camp Lejeune allocation, remaining capacity and second-connection status.
- Monitoring reports, violation files, inflow-and-infiltration studies, pump-station capacities and a reconciliation of the report’s conflicting figures.
Read the evidence
The original report is preserved exactly as ONWASA supplied it. Hubert United’s separate analysis identifies the calculations, limitations and records needed to verify the remaining questions.
Method: Findings are drawn from ONWASA’s report, arithmetic checks, prior ONWASA records and official state sources. Questions and inferences are labeled as such. Corrections or additional official records are welcome.