Wait's nearly over for Wartrace water connection

Bryan Smith, center, head of the Wartrace Water Department, takes a rare break with his men, John Thompson. left, and Alden Rowland, right, before the hectic days of the water supply conversion begins. For decadess, the system behind them on Cascade Hollow Road has provided Wartrace and its customers with water. Starting Tuesday, the town's water will come from Tullahoma and the spring's water will continue to be used by George Dickel.
(T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

The conversion process will mean the loss of water services from 8 a.m. until evening to many of Wartrace's customers, specifically Normandy, Valley View Estates and Valley View Heights, Red Hill Road, Highway 269 (Cortner Road), Bugscuffle Road, Haley Lane and Haley Road, Cannon Road, Hickerson Road, Knob Creek Road, Wartrace City, Clanton Lane, Mullins Chapel Road, Stokes Cemetery Road, Highway 64 East from Wartrace to U.S. 41-A, Philippi Road, Earl Smith Road, Bob Parks Road, Horse Mountain Road and Foothills Road.

"Please plan accordingly," advises the town's press release.

Bell Buckle however, should not be affected. The town also draws water from the Bedford County Utility District when necessary.

"Bryan (Smith, director of the Wartrace Water Department) told me he wants us to cut our supply off from Wartrace Tuesday morning," said Ronnie Lokey, who heads up Bell Buckle's water department. "So Tuesday morning, I guess we'll shut her down coming down this way. I told Bedford Utility that we might be buying from them if we need to, if it looks like it'll be a problem."

He said Cascade School should be unaffected.

While Bell Buckle residents may not be affected by the water cutoff on Tuesday, they could be affected by the conversion. Once Wartrace, Bell Buckle's primary supplier, converts to TUB, their prices to Bell Buckle will rise from $1.55 per thousand gallons to $2.50. Last year, BCUD offered Bell Buckle a price of $2.55 per thousand, asking the town to choose it as the primary provider. BCUD currently charges Bell Buckle $4 per thousand. The town's board of mayor and aldermen has postponed any decision on the offer, waiting to see how the Wartrace-TUB conversion fares.

Getting ready

Clanton Paving will be on site in Wartrace Monday, preparing it for the conversion. The work necessary to get equipment in place and ready has required temperatures over 40 degrees and dry weather -- both of which have been noticeably lacking in January and February.

Every time the town selected a date for the conversion, Mayor Don Gallagher prefaced it with "weather permitting." Until now, the weather has not permitted.

According to the National Weather Service, there is a slight (20 percent) chance of precipitation that day, but the temperatures should be around 45 degrees during the day, followed by a dry Wednesday with near 50-degree temperatures.

History

Even as Wartrace was planning to refurbish or replace its water treatment plant two years ago, a drinking water warning due to high turbidity levels and potentially contaminated water was issued by the state of Tennessee on April 1, 2008.The town, and all of its water customers, were issued a "boil order," and Wartrace was ordered to test the water four times a day, seven days a week.

That will no longer be required as soon as the conversion is complete, giving the town relief from overtime pay for its water department employees. Grants have helped meet many of the other expenses involved with the conversion and in a previous interview, Gallagher said the project seems to be coming in under budget.

On April 14, Wartrace began negotiations with TUB, and once those were agreed upon, has spent the remaining month repairing, replacing and adding water lines capable of handling the increased pressure expected from the Tullahoma source.

Even though the town has installed regulators to decrease that pressure as the water comes downhill from TUB, Gallagher encourages customers to get pressure valves for their own homes.

For more information about the conversion and water outage, contact Wartrace Town Hall at 389-6144.