Ellijay-Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority board members approved purchasing over $300,000 of pipe and other materials for the next phase of extending water service in the Roundtop Road area.
The Roundtop Road and Mt. Pisgah Road portions of the new water line are complete, and the pipeline is now in service, said Gary McVey, water authority director, during a Monday, Feb. 26, board meeting.
The water main extension for which the pipe was purchased will connect the system from Roundtop Road to Highway 382 via Knight Road and Barnes Mountain Road, McVey noted.
The approved purchases included 5,004 feet of 12-inch ductile iron pipe from low bidder Electrosteel USA for $209,267 and other materials, including fire hydrants, valves and pipe casing, for $102,708 from low bidder Hayes Pipe Supply Inc.
McVey said the water authority also has an additional 5,000 feet of pipe that can be used for this project.
“We already have some of the materials we will use. Most (of what we need) is fire hydrants and materials to install those. The reason we’re asking for 5,004 feet of pipe is the Electrosteel pipe comes in 18.6-feet joints, where the others come in 20-foot joints,” McVey told board members Billy Rowe, Tony Whitaker, David Westmoreland and Ricky Wimpey.
Water authority crews are still working to get all the new connections from the newly completed Roundtop pipeline established to homes. There are still roughly 50 service connections left to do, McVey noted.
A booster pumping station and water storage tank will also be constructed for the new service area. McVey said a site for the water storage tank on Knight Road has been acquired, but staff is still working on acquiring a site for the booster pumping station, and nothing has been finalized for that site.
About a site currently being looked at for the pumping station, he said three-phase power, which is a necessity, is not available there at this point.
“I’ve either got to get three-phase power there, or we’re going to have to locate a new site,” McVey added.
In other news ...
﹣ The water authority is still waiting on the delivery of transmitter wiring needed to complete a systemwide change out in which manually-read water meters are being replaced with digitally-read meters.
There are 403 meters in the City of Ellijay area that still need to be changed out, McVey noted. The wires have been on order for some time, but the vendor has heard nothing from the manufacturer about a possible delivery time, he added.
“We will not be able to close out the project until we can get the remaining 403 meters on the new system. It’s going to be difficult to schedule the work until we can get some accurate information on the delivery of the wires,” McVey said.
﹣ Installation of new water line on South Main Street is complete, McVey noted. Flushing and disinfecting procedures still have to be done before service can be swapped over from the old water main to the new one.
The project has moved to East Spring Street, where the contractor has installed a new 6-inch water main to the end of the street, and Church Street, where 12-inch piping is now being installed.
Once all testing is complete on the South Main Street portion of the project, the contractor, UWS, plans to put new concrete over cuts in the pavement and make them flush in accordance with the water authority’s agreement with the City of Ellijay, McVey noted.
﹣ Installation of new water line along Old Highway 5 South is “substantially complete” with all piping having been installed, flushed, tested and put in service, McVey noted. Some minor punch list items and final cleanup of the project area still remain.