Where Did All The Water Go?

By
MARY ANN ANDERSON
“Where did the water go?”
That was the question posed by Michael Mangold of Inframark, the company contracted to operate the City of Hazlehurst’s Water Department, during the city council’s regular monthly meeting.
Mangold said the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources requires an annual water loss audit. The results, he told council members, were startling.
“Sixty-one percent of your water is unaccounted for, and 65 percent is unmetered water, so where is that water?” Mangold asked.
He explained that the city pumped approximately 504 million gallons of water during the reporting period but billed only 181 million gallons, leaving roughly 322 million gallons unaccounted for.
Mangold said the city must meet a lengthy list of requirements before obtaining a new groundwater permit from the EPD. Those requirements include strict metering, precise data tracking, leak management and comprehensive reporting.
Ward 3 Councilman Chris Jones asked how the figures compared to last year.
Mangold replied that last year’s water loss was even greater.
“So what we’re doing is working,” Jones said. “It’s definitely an improvement.”
City Clerk Vernice Thompson added that a Water Department employee had reported more than 200 water meters were not registering readings, which could account for part of the loss.
Jones noted that while the city is aware of several waterline leaks that create standing water around town, the leakage alone does not appear significant enough to explain the enormous discrepancy. He also suggested that installing regulators could help reduce water loss.
“It looks better than last year,” Jones said, “but we’re still not there yet.”
A significant portion of the meeting was also devoted to discussion of the city’s long-closed landfill located on McEachin Landing Road.
Over the years, the city has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars with TRC Companies for environmental remediation, monitoring and maintenance at the landfill site, including the measurement of methane gas levels.
When another change order from TRC came before the council — one that could cost approximately $18,000 — some council members expressed reservations.
However, attorney Wood Smith of Smith and Smith, part of the city’s legal team, advised against rejecting the request, noting that other companies, including BP and Emerson, are involved in the project.
“TRC is probably the least of your concern,” Smith said.
Ward 1 Councilman Dywane Johnson said it was “unfair to the city” to continue incurring such costs. Thompson, however, offered council members a measure of optimism.
Of all the monitoring sites at the landfill, she said, only one location exceeded 5 percent methane by volume, the key regulatory threshold for methane migration.
Thompson further explained that if methane levels remain below 5 percent for the next six months, the city could be released from future monitoring requirements and may also qualify for removal from the state’s hazardous site inventory.
Jones then made a motion to approve the change order and continue landfill monitoring for another six months. The motion passed 2-1, with Jones and Ward 2 Councilwoman Elizabeth Oliver voting in favor and Johnson casting the lone dissenting vote.
In other business during the approximately 30-minute meeting, the council authorized Mayor John Ramay to execute a resolution applying for financial assistance through the EPD’s Hazardous Waste Trust Fund.
The council also approved May water and sewer adjustments, departmental reports and the city’s check register.
The meeting concluded with Johnson reminding those in attendance of the community prayer walk held last Saturday. The walk began and ended at Bennett Tabernacle Holiness Church on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.