Sewer project ready by 2006
By Turner Walston
Published in News on October 14, 2005 1:52 PM
PIKEVILLE -- Pikeville's sewer plant construction is on schedule, said Town Administrator Lonnie Graves. Graves said he hopes the plant will open next spring.
"All the pipes are in the ground," Graves said. "They found a couple places were there's infiltration, and they are isolating those."
The new plant sits on 38 acres off of Leigh Road east of downtown Pikeville. It will be capable of processing 140,000 gallons daily, and will serve Pikeville residents and those in the town's incorporated limits. The current sewer system, on the same site, is at capacity at 98,000 gallons per day.
News-Argus/Turner Walston
Progress continues on the Pikeville sewer plant off Leigh Drive. The plant should be fully operational in early 2006, officials say.
Residents will experience no noticeable difference in service when the transition from the current system takes place, Graves said.
The project is the culmination of approximately eight years of planning, he said.
"That's the amazing thing," Graves said. "Most people don't realize the effort that it takes to do something simple like flush a toilet."
The current system uses chlorine to treat the water after waste settles at the bottom of the holding ponds.
"The new plant is going to be more sophisticated," Graves said. Microorganisms break down the waste in the water, which is then sterilized by ultraviolet light. The water is then used for irrigation of town properties.
Town Commissioner Lyman Galloway said the first operations the plant will undertake will be to clean out the two adjacent storage ponds.
"It's a maintenance technique," Galloway said. "There's still a lot of work to be done after that, but you've got to have a storage area."
Even though the population of Pikeville will not use the new plant's full capacity immediately, Graves said town officials are already looking to expand the plant.
"As we anticipate future growth, we're looking now to expand for the future. If Pikeville is to grow, we're going to have to have more capacity."
Graves said Eastern Asphalt Company was working on re-paving Mill Street and all of the Collingwood neighborhood, after work was done on lines below the streets. He said the company had encountered a delay in waiting for asphalt from patching work to settle before beginning the paving project.
The cost of the new system, including new lines and upgrades, paving, and the plant itself, is approximately $6 million, Graves said.