Henry County Water & Sewerage Authority (HCWSA) is ramping up its efforts to assure local residents and businesses have ample drinking water supply in the summer months. To do so, the Authority is promoting water conservation to its customers, as stated in a resolution adopted by the HCWSA at its June meeting, in addition to strictly enforcing the current outdoor watering restrictions implemented by the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD).
The EPD outdoor watering restrictions are in place according to regulations appropriate for what the state calls a “non-drought” period, which is the current declared condition of Henry County and North Georgia. Those watering bans restrict outdoor watering for odd-numbered addresses on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, while even-numbered addresses are permitted to water outdoors on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. No water is permitted on Fridays.
For slow growth counties, outdoor watering restrictions are a matter of compliance, says Lindy Farmer, general manager of the HCWSA. But in a high growth county like Henry, outdoor watering restrictions are not just state mandates, they are necessary water conservation practices that are critically important for the Authority to handle peak demands during the summer.
“We have several capital improvements in place that will address the tremendous growth and subsequent drinking water demand—we’ve experienced in Henry County the past several years, but water conservation is always important for protecting our natural resources especially our water supply,” says Farmer. “Hopefully, this summer will be our last stretch where supply and demand are critically close to intersecting on peak days.”
As an example, this past Memorial Day holiday gave Authority officials a taste for the delicate and difficult management challenge to keep supply ahead of demand on peak consumption days. On the Saturday of the holiday weekend, the Authority’s Towaliga Water Production Plant was operating near its full production capacity of 24 mgd, as customer demand brought on the good weather, home projects, and holiday celebrations that day.
“What most people don’t realize is that the demand curve approaches the limited supply on only a few occasions, probably five to 10 days per year,” adds Farmer. “But those peak demands create a lot of stress on the system at those times, so customer compliance on outdoor watering and other means of conservation are critically important for us to make it through these periods.”
The Authority has been working overtime to prepare for the peak drinking water demand days that typically come during the summer months. Last year, the Towaliga Plant—the only water production facility in the HCWSA system—received significant upgrades in filtrations processes, to aid the efficiency of water production during peak demands. In addition, the Authority’s Tussahaw Reservoir and Water Production Plant are nearly complete, along with an additional 1 million gal. above ground storage tank in Northeast Henry County, but these assets will not come on line before this summer’s end.
“Conservation and compliance with watering restrictions will still be important even after the Tussahaw Plant come on line, but having the new facility will certainly help us meet the growing demand in the years to come,” adds Farmer. “In the interim, we have to rely upon the limited resources we have,” adds Farmer.
To give an idea of the rapid pace of growth in Henry County, the HCWSA is adding approximately 4,000 new customers to its water system annually, which is the equivalent of adding a number each year in excess of the residents in the entire city of Locust Grove.
Source: Henry County Water & Sewerage Authority
