The Oglethorpe Echo
Some Oglethorpe County residents and businesses saw an unwelcome increase to their water and sewage bills this past month.
Crawford Mayor Seavy O’Neal said the city increased water and sewage rates to help cover the costs of upgrades to the Crawford water plant and infrastructure, which have more than doubled since 2019.
Crawford initially requested $4.26 million in loans and grants for the project in 2019, but the cost has since increased to $10.3 million.
“Back in 2019 is when we signed the original closing documents, our initial closing documents for the project, just to supplement bids,” O’Neal said. “And then COVID came, and everything stopped, and then it got back up. But we started with the project of it being a $4.2 million project, and then with COVID, everything doubled with inflation.”
The city needed subsequent funding after COVID-19, including $3.94 million in loans and $2.09 million in grants.
“The main part of the project is the surface water plant itself,” O’Neal said. “The dam is getting redone. Lakes are gonna get dredged a little deeper, new aerators, new gangways, new instrumentation, all throughout. So it’s a little more automated. It’s just improvements.”
O’Neal said the water lines that run behind Oglethorpe County High School will be replaced because they constantly break and leak. Water meters will be upgraded to feature automatic readers to decrease labor costs.
O’Neal said Crawford isn’t profiting off the water system. The USDA requires the city to show it can cover the costs through rates. He said he hopes the work will start in September.
The rate increase impacted businesses more than residents. Customers saw the increase on their bill due on July 15.
“There were restaurants voicing their objection and concern about the increase in water rates, which is substantial,” O’Neal said. “I mean, we recognize that, but we tried to pass it on to the businesses and the institutions for the brunt of the increase, because they ultimately can change their pricing to bring in the additional income, where if somebody is on a fixed budget, you only have so much coming in a month, you get an extra $20-, $40-a-month water bill that can be detrimental in the long run to some people.”
Lexington Mayor Craig Snow said his city saw increases in its sewage rates.
“There was an increase across the board, but way more so in the commercial,” Snow said. “All the City of Lexington did was pass on Crawford’s increase. That’s all we did because our sewage is basically provided by Crawford.”
Hazel Sanders, owner of Hazel’s Hair Salon in Lexington, said her business’ sewage bill increased $50 in June.
“I see it affecting my business because I’m going to have to increase my prices,” Sanders said. “I’m not excited about it.”
Water quality issues
The Crawford City Council approved buying a new aerator for $16,500 at its July 9 meeting after the water plant had issues with brown water.
“The aerator is not working that helps oxidize out the manganese to an iron to a treatable level, and it’s just been tough to stay on top of it with that not working, but it’s supposed to be replaced here in the next couple of weeks,” said Donny Faust, lead operator at the Crawford water department.
“When the temperature goes up, the manganese levels go up without the aerator in there. The aerator keeps it more stabilized.”
Faust said the plant has the manganese under control, but there still may be issues in the distribution system.
“I went and watered my garden to let it flush out some, and then it cleared on up,” Faust said. “It didn’t last, but just an hour or two. It wasn’t bad at all, but I know in other areas it’s been worse. And I don’t know if that’s because of the area they’re in or the pipes.”
Faust said manganese is a secondary contaminant, meaning there’s no immediate health hazard.
“It will cause painting of plumbing fixtures, laundry,” he said. “It’s more aesthetic than anything, but nobody wants to drink brown water.”
Faust said the water plant is understaffed and needs at least one more operator. Anyone interested in becoming certified needs six months of experience, take a 40-hour class then pass a certification that has a 5-6% passing rate, Faust said.
“We got two out in the field now, so that’s going to help where I don’t have to leave the water plant,” Faust said. “There’s only one water treatment operator, and that’s me, and then the other two work in the distribution system, breeding, meters, whatever needs to be done.”