DISCOVERY BAY — Beckett Point resident Bill Smith was among 40 happy homeowners who could flush their toilets with a clear conscience last week after contractors for Jefferson County Public Utility District successfully switched on part of the community’s new septic system and drain field.
“It’s been a long process,” said a smiling Smith, a five-year Beckett Point resident who watched Friday as PUD employees were trained to operate the new $2.8 million system expected to be completed in late February.
The project, in the works since 2002, will ultimately serve 100 homeowners on the sand-spit fishing village that dates back nearly 70 years.
Failing septic systems, some nothing more than 55-gallon drums originally, threatened the placid waters of shellfish-rich Discovery Bay with fecal coliform contamination.
The new system pumps wastewater away from the shoreline, pulling it uphill about a quarter-mile to a six-acre drainfield.
While Smith and other Beckett Point residents praised Jefferson County Public Utility District leaders, saying they had gone beyond the call of duty, there was a dark time last spring when PUD officials nearly walked away from the project.
