Tuckaseigee WWTP 3 Cashiers - Advanced Wastewater Treatment in Jackson County, North Carolina

Tuckaseigee WWTP 3 Cashiers is a wastewater treatment facility located on Cashiers Lake Road in Jackson County, North Carolina, within the mountainous region of the southern Appalachians. The plant serves a small community of approximately 300 residents, reflecting its role in a rural, low-density area. The plant employs advanced treatment processes, which go beyond secondary treatment to remove nutrients and other pollutants. With a designed capacity of 757.08 cubic meters per day and an actual discharge volume of 189.27 cubic meters per day, the facility operates well below its capacity. As a US plant, it operates under the Clean Water Act, with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to regulate its discharges. The treated effluent is discharged into local streams that feed into the Tuckaseigee River, a tributary of the Little Tennessee River. This river system ultimately drains into the Tennessee River and then the Mississippi River, making the plant's discharge part of a larger watershed that supports diverse aquatic life and provides drinking water for downstream communities.

The plant discharges into headwater streams of the Tuckaseigee River, which flows into the Little Tennessee River and eventually the Tennessee River. This watershed supports a variety of fish species, including trout, and provides habitat for aquatic insects and amphibians. The advanced treatment helps protect water quality in this ecologically sensitive mountain region, which is important for recreation and biodiversity.