County plans $5.3M in water infrastructure projects

Wilson County will undergo two major water infrastructure projects totaling $5.3 million.

The projects focus on the county’s southwest water district. The projects are funded through the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, American Rescue Plan Act grants with the division of infrastructure, said Ronnie Ford, the county’s water services director. He expects the projects to begin at the end of the year or at the beginning of 2025.

$1.43 MILLION WATER PROJECT

The first project includes the replacement of the county’s Yank Road booster pump station and town of Lucama interconnection.

Commissioners approved a resolution last week tentatively awarding the $1.43 million project to A.C. Schultes of Carolina, Inc, who came in at the lowest bid.

Ford said the first portion of the project replaces an existing but older failing booster pump station.

“The Yank Road booster pump station is our main entry point where we purchase water from the town of Black Creek and distribute it through our southwest water district,” Ford said. It will provide a more efficient operation and give the county the capability to move more water in a shorter period of time to meet the system’s demands.

He said the town of Lucama interconnection will make a “physical connection” between the county’s southwest system and Lucama’s drinking water system, Ford said.

This will give the town of Lucama the option to purchase water from the county.

“This interconnection is not a daily water source, but would provide the town of Lucama an ‘emergency connection’ should they have issues with their system’s wells, pumps, storage tank, etc.,” Ford said. “The back-up source would also benefit the town and its citizens when they need to perform preventative maintenance within their infrastructure.”

$3.9 MILLION WATER PROJECT

The second water infrastructure project includes the Buckhorn pressure zone. Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution last week tentatively awarding the $3.9 million project to Herring-Rivenbark Inc. that came in at the lowest bid. Ford said the project is an expansion of an existing area of the county’s southwest water district.

He said the existing pressure zone covers Buckhorn, Rock Ridge and rural Sims areas, not the town of Sims. This project includes adding 22 miles of new water lines to offer public drinking water to a larger area, he said.

“Based on the expansion area only, there are approximately 280 existing residents that would be able to connect to county water should they chose to,” Ford said.

Ford said the expansion includes some of but not every mile of the following roads: Flowers Road, a section of Old Raleigh Road, Boykin Road, Wilkerson Loop, a section of Healthy Plains Church Road, High Road, Fulghum Road, a section of N.C. 581 and Byrd Road.

“We planned the expansion to make public drinking water available to more of our county citizens, but I would assume the availability of a public water system might make these areas more appealing to developers in the future,” Ford said.

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