By Chris Russell
Contributing writer
The Wrightsville Beach sewer and water ad-hoc committee members discussed whether to request a second waste management pipeline under the Intracoastal Waterway during a meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19 to discuss next steps in updating the Wrightsville Beach water supply.
Speaking about the now 36-year-old waste pipeline, various committee members expressed concern about spending money to upgrade water supplies, when there is not yet a plan in place to upgrade the sewer system.
“We would be up to our eyeballs in crap over here if that line broke,” said committee member Durwood Sykes. Others voiced concern about spending large sums of money on clean water systems, when a combined sewer/water package could be in the town’s future.
Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) manages Wrightsville Beach waste now, and the committee is considering suggesting the purchase of clean water from CFPUA, in peak seasons and possibly in entirety one day, replacing or diminishing town wells.
The ad-hoc group reviewed and discussed past suggestions and examined some cost analysis of water fixes for the town. Options include: fixing existing wells, purchasing water from CFPUA and storing it in aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells, reverse osmosis, relinquishing the island water system to CFPUA, and building new wells.
“If you had all the money in the world, RO (reverse osmosis) would be the way to go,” town manager Tim Owens said.
The suggestions, which will be put forth by the committee to the town board of aldermen include: continue to operate the town water system as opposed to selling to the CFPUA, encourage water conservation, design for a second water line under the waterway, model current water system, research land west of ICWW for wells, and make necessary improvements to town well Nos. 5, 7 and 11.
One first item of importance will be to complete modeling of the town’s water system to assess the town’s interconnection with CFPUA.
“We need a system assessment, an inventory of what we have, and the condition of what we have,” Owens said.
Many factors have to be considered: age of equipment and infrastructure, chemical concerns mixing transported and well water, and even water pressure differences. The current water pipe interconnect with CFPUA is strictly for emergency situations. It was tested about six months ago and was about 55 psi. The Wrightsville Beach pressure in the same spot was about 48 psi.
Water conservation ideas for residents include: water yards on specific days, create a rain barrel program, create a conservation committee, and make sure irrigation is responsibly done.
Other items discussed include: incrementally hiking water rates to citizens when needed, installing more shut off valves to ease and speed water break repairs, searching for new well sites (an acre is needed) on the mainland near existing pipes, re-drilling of non or low producing wells, and suggesting a Wrightsville Beach official join the CFPUA governing board.
