THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 27, 1995 TAG: 9502270051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RODANTHE LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
With blow torches, front-end loaders and high-powered drills, workers are bringing a pipe dream to three Hatteras Island villages.
A new $6.5 million, reverse-osmosis water production plant is scheduled to be completed within a year. By summer 1996, residents of Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo will have county water flowing through their faucets. Now, northern Hatteras Island residents draw their water from wells.
``The central water we produce will be much softer and easier to lather with than the well water they're getting now,'' Bob Oreskovich, Dare County Water Department supervisor, said Friday. ``Reverse-osmosis water has little color, low iron content and is excellent for drinking. It will be the highest quality water available - especially for coastal communities.''
Reverse-osmosis plants purify underground water by removing salt, minerals and other contaminants. Every drop of water runs through 104 membranes - more than 37,440 square feet of filters - before it flows from any faucets. A computerized Programmable Logic Controller continuously monitors water quality.
On Friday, workers were assembling a 200,000 gallon elevated storage tank on the west side of Route 12 in Rodanthe. The 140-foot tower will rise beside a 363-foot-deep well. Pumps will draw water from the mid-Yorktown aquifer which runs beneath Pea Island, and send the slightly salinated underground water through a new county production plant.
The 6,835-square-foot plant will be on the east side of Route 12, near the Chicamacomico Lifesaving Station. This month, construction crews completed a 28-foot-tall, 1 million gallon ground storage tank at the same site. About 10 full-time county employees will run the new water system.
``With an elevated tank, people will still be able to get water even if the power goes out,'' Oreskovich said. ``Now, since the wells require electric pumps, you can't turn on the water if the lights go out. Central water also will help firefighters because we're installing 73 new fire hydrants. Now, all they have, has to come from the pumper truck. And central water won't be contaminated by ocean overwash. So you can drink from your faucets even after a storm.''
The new system will be North Carolina's fourth reverse-osmosis water production plant. In 1976, Ocracoke Island officials installed the state's first R-O plant. Dare County opened its initial R-O system in Kill Devil Hills in 1989. About 55 percent of Dare County's homes and businesses are linked to the central water system.
In Kill Devil Hills, the water plant can produce 3 million gallons a day. The northern Hatteras Island system initially will create about 1 million gallons of water daily. Its capacity can be doubled, Oreskovich said.
More than 22 miles of plastic PVC pipe will connect Hatteras Island homes and businesses to the new county water system. One-third of that pipe already is in place. Lines will be completely underground by the end of March.
Although the central water will be available for every house and business in Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo, connection to the county system is optional. Of the 1,700 buildable lots in that area, owners of 1,500 parcels have said they eventually want to link onto the reverse-osmosis plant. Already, 660 residents have signed up for the system, Oreskovich said.
``We're thrilled to death with the response to this project,'' Oreskovich said. ``The finance director counted on 500 customers, so we're already well beyond that. We expect at least 10 percent more customers will join the system next year.''
Some Hatteras Island residents rejected the new county water system because of the cost. Connections to the central water system cost $2,300 - plus a $90 deposit. Water will cost $4 per 1,000 gallons, about $49 per quarter, the same rate as the rest of Dare County's customers.
Revenue from water bills will pay for building the production plant. Initial costs were financed with water bonds. ILLUSTRATION: ROBIE RAY/Staff
[Color Photo]
Robert Oreskovich, left, Dare County Water Department supervisor,
discusses work on the million-gallon water storage tank in the
background with hydrogeologist Jack Breland on Friday. The tank is
part of a $6.5 million water production plant that will serve
Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo in northern Hatteras Island.
ROBIE RAY/Staff
Welders James Hickman of Indiana, left, and Mike Klein of Alabama
weld pieces of a 200,000 gallon water tank Friday.
WATER PRODUCTION PLAN
By summer 1996, villagers in Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo will be able
to purchase water from a new Dare County Reverse-Osmosis water
production plant.
Connections to the central water system cost $2,300 plus a $90
deposit. Water rates will be $4 per 1,000 gallons, about $49 per
quarter. The rates will be the same for all of Dare County's water
customers.
For more information, or to sign up for a connection to the northern
Hatteras Island water production plant, call the Dare County Water
Department during regular business hours (919) 441-7788.
by CNB