The Yadkin Valley Sewer Authority has a poverty rate of 12.4% and is located in three counties, Yadkin, Surry and Wilkes. Yadkin County is a Tier 2 economically distressed county, while Surry County and Wilkes County are Tier 1 economically distressed counties.

The Towns of Elkin, Jonesville and Ronda have created the Yadkin Valley Sewer Authority to consolidate three existing wastewater treatment plant systems:  Elkin (1.8 million gallons per day); Jonesville (0.4 million gallons per day); and East Wilkes High School (0.0105 million gallons per day) at the Town of Elkin wastewater treatment plant. Jonesville has violated its NPDES permit for ammonia nitrogen and has excessive inflow and infiltration during wet weather.

The original project was to upgrade the Elkin wastewater treatment plant from 1.8 to 2.5 million gallons per day to facilitate the consolidation and will eliminate two existing NPDES discharges (for East Wilkes High School (Town of Ronda) and Town of Jonesville); however, due to a reduction in billable flows for Elkin and Jonesville resulting from closures of Vaughan Bassett Manufacturing and Blythe Distribution along with overall customer conservation measures, the YVSA Board unanimously approved to reduce the scope of work from the proposed 2.5 million gallons per day expansion to modifying the current 1.8 million gallons per day facility.  Modifications will be made to the existing biological treatment; and expansion of the sludge handling facilities.  These improvements will allow the transfer of flows from the Town of Jonesville and eliminate the Jonesville NPDES permit.

The project also includes inflow and infiltration improvements on an existing 21” gravity sewer outfall along the Yadkin River and the elimination of a temporary aerial sewer crossing of Big Elkin Creek with a new Partridge Lane Sewer Extension.