New county water treatment plant to go on line this month

By By Thomas Tingle
Record Managing Editor
The Mountain Fork Water Treatment Facility northeast Madison County is set to go on line later this month.
In the city of Madison, construction of the new wastewater treatment facility is nearing completion and construction of the city's new water treatment plant is scheduled to begin in early 2003.
Originally scheduled to go on line July 9, officials with the Madison County Water Department moved the date up for the Mountain Fork plant. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management ordered that Madison County build the new $7 million water treatment plant after finding higher-than-normal counts of fecal coliform in the raw water.
The new plant is located on 12 acres on Old Mountain Fork Road.
Until the plant is put on line, water customers have been asked to continue to conserve water during the next two weeks. Low pressure is expected and additional water has been purchased from Huntsville. The plant filters three to four million gallons of water per day and has been designed to treat as much as eight million gallons of water per day.
There are more than 22,000 customers being served by the county water department.
Construction of a new wastewater treatment facility for Madison will be completed this fall. Located off Landers Circle, the $23 million facility is due to go on-line by the end of September or the first of October – relieving Madison from relying on Huntsville to treat its wastewater.
Construction of the $8 million water treatment plant will not begin until early 2003. Funding for the plant will come from the State Water Revolving Fund. Delay in its construction is due to funding regulation changes. Upon its completion, the plant will be able to treat eight thousand gallons of water per day with up to 12 thousand gallons of water per day treatable.