 Thu, Aug 28, 2008 05:10 AM
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2008-07-11  Suwanee | Suwanee examines water system
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| | by Scott Sowers | |  |
July 17, 2008 | 10:48 AM
SUWANEE – The recent drought has caused a stir across the state for municipalities to examine just how much water they have and how it will look in the future.
Suwanee is no exception to this and city council recently heard the results of phase I of a survey conducted by the engineering firm Rindt-McDuff at their workshop July 10.
John Washington, an engineer for the firm, said that the study looked at four key areas – supply, storage, distribution and operations – and examined what is needed to improve. He said that the second phase of the study would look at things like the rate structure.
"The conclusions we can draw from this study is that Suwanee needs to build new wells, upgrade and replace the water mains and do annual fire hydrant flow tests," Washington said. "Suwanee has a very good system currently in place, but these improvements would help it to run even smoother down the line."
The engineer said that a priority for the city should be digging another well like the 600 foot one currently in operation. This well would then become the primary one while the older would be used as the secondary. By doing this, it would prevent the city from having to purchase water from Gwinnett County, as the county charges higher rates than the city does.
Additionally, a new well for irrigation of the city's parks and green space should be explored as well, according to the study. Cost for this well would be approximately one-third of the proposed new drinking water well. By 2020, it is recommended that Suwanee supplement its current storage tank with another one.
"To project capital improvements well into 2020 says a lot about our ability to plan for the future," mayor Dave Williams said.
Another project further down the line that the survey discussed is a new automatic water meter reading system, which would streamline operations and help defray costs.
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