THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 12, 1996 TAG: 9601120696
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RODANTHE LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
If construction continues to flow smoothly, more than 800 residents of northern Hatteras Island will have county-produced water pouring from their pipes by the end of April.
``We're under budget and on schedule,'' Dare County Water Director Bob Oreskovich said Thursday.
``Once people start showering, washing their clothes and drinking this water, the local coffee shop conversation will be very favorable,'' Oreskovich said of the new water system. ``People are going to be impressed. They'll wonder how they ever lived without it.''
The northern three villages of Hatteras Island never have had a centralized water system. Homes and businesses are hooked up to individual private wells. The quality of well water varies considerably between properties.
About six years ago, county officials began studying ways to bring a reverse-osmosis water production plant to Rodanthe, Waves and Salvo. Reverse-osmosis plants purify underground water drawn from deep wells 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.
Construction on the Hatteras Island water system began more than a year ago when workers started laying 22 miles of plastic pipe throughout the three villages. Last spring, they completed a 200,000- gallon elevated storage tank and a 1 million-gallon ground storage tank in Rodanthe. On Jan. 22, they plan to open an administration building at the plant and bring the water system's permanent employees on board.
Water impact fees, connection fees and deposits for the new Hatteras Island system total $2,942 for most homes. Buildings with larger pipes will be charged a higher fee. Every property owner who can be hooked up to the county water system also will be charged a $1,500 assessment - which can be paid over seven years. Water rates will average $51 per quarter for 9,000 gallons. Additional water will cost $4.50 per 1,000 gallons.
``People can go ahead and begin putting in their water lines today,'' Oreskovich said, explaining that all property owners need to run a line from their residence to the new county pipes. ``They should have those pipes in place by March 1, when we begin installing the meters. If everything goes according to plan, someone will begin getting water March 11.''
Of an estimated 1,700 properties in the three northern Hatteras Island villages, 1,485 owners have said they'll sign up for water. At least 808 subscribers already have paid their $300 connection fees. In February, those people will receive bills for a $102 deposit. Deposits are due to the new water office March 1. No one will receive a meter until the office has received the deposit.
The $6.5 million water system can produce 1 million gallons a day. Peak demand this summer, Oreskovich predicted, will be about 350,000 gallons daily.
``This plant will be in operation 30 years from now,'' he said. ``It's designed to handle the community's demand for at least the next 10 years. And there's room to build two more half-million gallon production units.''
Dare County spokesman Charles Hartig said that besides bringing better water and fire protection to the residents of northern Hatteras Island, the new water system will ``act as a catalyst for development in those villages.''
The Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo system includes the Outer Banks' third 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. A fourth plant is in Corolla. 960112 S1LDWAT12 BYRUDY comstart photo
Input file was 0201 Output file was /asst/csi/0112/pass3/0201 ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Bob Crutchfield, superintendent of the water production plant,
examines the reverse osmosis system at the new facility.
Graphic
WATER PLANT OPERATIONS
The new Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo water production plant is scheduled to
begin operations in March. Before then, residents need to have pipes
installed from their homes to the recently installed county water
lines that run along village streets. Workers are scheduled to start
installing meters March 11.
A meter will not be installed until the property owner has sent a
$102 deposit to the county. Bills for those deposits are scheduled
to be mailed in February. The new water plant office is set to open
Jan. 22.
On Feb. 5 at 7 p.m., county water officials will hold a public
hearing at the Rodanthe Community Center to discuss water system
assessment fees. The public is encouraged to attend this meeting.
For more information, call the Dare County Water Department at
441-7788.
by CNB