Kenly — A large amount of surface water creeps into the town’s wastewater treatment plant, causing problems. And the plant operator, Ken Thompson, needs help with the work.

Those were the findings presented Monday night by Gene Johnson, whom the town hired to evaluate the wastewater treatment plant.

“Probably largest problem is inflow and infiltration,” Johnson said at the Town Council meeting. “There’s an enormous amount of surface water that gets into plant. Until this is addressed, you’re going to have problems at the plant forever.”

Johnson said the problem is very common in towns Kenly’s size, and that overall, the plant requires no major overhauls.

Johnson said he spent time with Thompson at the plant and determined that there’s enough work there for more than two full-time employees. The town allots 1,400 manpower hours annually for operating the plant, but Johnson said the town needs to hire additional workers to bring that number up to 4,500 hours.