“We are excited about getting started (with construction),” said Mike Walraven, with Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, Inc., who is the project engineer for the surface water treatment plant project.
Walraven said construction should begin in mid-November.
“Construction time should take approximately 21 months to complete,” he said. “We got good prices from the contractors and good bond rates.”
Paul Manning, chairman of the Coosa Valley Water Supply District, said he is glad to see it moving forward.
“This project has been a long time in coming,” he said.
Manning said the regional water project has gained a lot of interest over the past eight years.
“St. Clair County, Springville, Odenville, and Pell City are members, and we are very proud to have input from them,” he said. “We are hoping for new customers in the future.”
According to the CVWSD agreement, St. Clair County, Springville, Odenville, and Pell City are required to purchase 750,000 gallons of water each day from the surface water treatment facility. Those members may sell water to other entities.
“This is a great time for St. Clair County,” St. Clair County Commission Chairman Stan Batemon said Thursday shortly after officials signed legal documents to secure the $32 million bond issue.
Batemon said the regional water project is something the fast-growing county has needed for many years.
“This project will mean we won’t have to depend on limited groundwater options such as wells and springs,” he said. “This allows us to get water from the Coosa River.”
Batemon said the CVWSD removes doubt on how to furnish drinking water for the growing county.
“We now know where we will get our water from in the future—the Coosa River,” he said. “This will provide us with enough water for the next 50 years at least.”
Batemon said with the regional water project, local towns and cities will not have to struggle to search for backup water supplies if a well runs dry.
“This long process has taken many years, and we are very excited to see it coming to fruition,” he said. “Now we can move on to solving other infrastructure problems and address other issues a growing county has.”
Batemon said a groundbreaking ceremony and public celebration is being planned in the near future, but no date has been set.
“With as much interest as there has been from citizens in the county, we think a lot will want to attend the groundbreaking,” he said.
Batemon said the groundbreaking ceremony will let residents come and see how the project is progressing.
The surface water treatment facility will initially pump 3 mgd (million gallons a day) of treated surface water. The plant is capable of producing 6 mgd of treated surface water without any capital improvements, however the facility is designed to pump as much as 12 mgd of treated water.
Walraven said the wholesale cost of the CVWSD water is estimated to cost approximately $2.30 per 1,000 gallons, which is about 20-cents less than first anticipated.
Officials say the bond debt payment for the CVWSD is about $170,000 a month, which means each member of the water supply district is expected to pay $42,500 per month.
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