The Eatonton-Putnam Water and Sewer Authority board recently gave the official nod to developing a master plan for future water and sewer system improvements.
In a mid-June meeting, board members began by venting frustration over the passage of another month without final approval from the governor’s Office of Planning and Budget for their $6.1 million project list that is to be half-funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Just to get the master plan done as soon as possible, the board quickly decided to pay all $150 thousand of its costs from the $2 million already pledged by EPWSA.
“We need it by year’s end (when the board sets its budget for next year),” stated Judd Doster, an Eatonton representative on the board. “There is no reason to wait … this is priority one.”
The work consists of three parts. The first is mapping what is already in the ground and converting existing paper maps to a digital format. Local ESG Project Manager Brice Doolittle has already been working on this and indicated it was perhaps 75-percent complete. However, overlays still need to be developed for sewer lines, manholes, valves, lift stations, and other data.
Moving to a digitized mapping system will enable EPWSA workers to identify specific problem areas much more quickly, sometimes even before the problems occur by linking the new maps to work orders in a given area, ESG Regional Vice President Neal Counts explained.
The second part is modeling the various lines for the sizes of pipe required under a capital improvement plan, and the third is a thorough physical survey. Doolittle noted the use of a couple of special machines akin to the more familiar ground-penetrating radar. Using sonar and harmonics, these machines can identify links, defects, and even the types of pipe and their depth, all without digging.
In other matters, Doolittle said new customers continue to come on line for ESG, with 80 in the first six months of 2022, including 19 in June alone. EPWSA workers in June responded to 431 customer-related work orders. The problems ranged from leak investigations to broken meter lids to low-pressure complaints.