The ity of Pickens continues to make strides in modernizing its infrastructure.
The city’s water plant is undergoing a $4 million dollar upgrade to help keep it in line with required regulations.
“Two years ago, there were water rate increases put into place to bond this project, which is how this water plant upgrade is being paid for. It is a water and sewer bond. No construction has been done to this plant since it was built in 1956, so we have modernized the plant,” said Pickens City Administrator, Katherine Brackett. “Using technology to upgrade the plant will help us treat the water to improve its quality.”
The water plant was upgraded in the 1970’s and has experienced no issues with water quality but has needed an entire upgrade to maintain standards set by the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (DHEC).
“In the late 50s, the city of Pickens and the original water plant worked about a million and half gallons of water a day, but within the next two decades , the city deemed it necessary to upgrade,” said the Water and Waste Water Superintendent for the City of Pickens, Brian Gravely. “They added the city lake reservoir, which is a 100 acre lake and where the city gets the majority of its water, also Twelve Mile Creek which is the secondary source, and an emergency source from the Greenville Water System.”
Along with the additional water sources, two new filters were added to meet the needs of both the industrial and residential water demands, but further upgrades are once again required.
“To meet the higher criteria set by the South Carolina DHEC, it is necessary for us to give the best quality of water to our consumers, and we can operate more efficiently here and deliver that product to them with this four million dollar expansion,” said Gravely.
The $4 million improvement will include a complete plant upgrade.
“With the filters, the flash mixer, and our new backwash system, we can deliver a much better quality of water to our customers at a better and more efficient cost to the city of Pickens,” said Gravely.
The City of Pickens is intent on maintaining a high standard of services to its water customers.
“The uniform goal of modernizing our infrastructure is to create a better quality of services to the city of Pickens,” said Brackett.
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