New Leesburg water tower raised

LEESBURG — Residents of Leesburg moved one step closer to having improved water pressure and fire suppression capabilities Thursday as crews finished raising a new water tower at the city’s Public Works Department site.

The new water tower, which has a capacity of 200,000 gallons, is replacing an older 100,000-gallon capacity tank and is part of a series of water improvement moves the city of Leesburg has undertaken over the past two years.

The erection of the new water tank comes not long after the city installed several thousand linear feet of new water lines and manes throughout the community in an effort to improve the city’s aging water system.

“We anticipate Leesburg growing,” said Leesburg City Manager Bob Alexander. “We want to improve our water pressure and our capacity for growth as well as water pressure for meeting EPD (Environmental Protection Division) standards, which would include more suppression capabilities as well as more convenience to the people we serve. You need a little pressure if you’re going to take a shower.”

Alexander said once the water system projects are finished, the city’s pressure and capacity will rival what residents see in Albany. In fact, Alexander said, water pressure has been a complaint of many who have moved north from Albany in recent years.

“They’d say, ‘Y’all don’t have the water pressure that we do,’” Alexander said. “This new tank will better distribute the water flows, and it’s in conjunction with changing out a lot of our water lines that are old. It’s an overall improvement on our water system, and it’s both water quality that we’re doing and water quantity.”

Alexander said the cost for building the new tank, which was designed by Cater & Slope Consulting Engineers and is being installed by Phoenix Fabricators and Erectors, is $842,500. The project is being financed by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA), at 2.03 percent over 20 years. Additionally, GEFA is extending $181,250 of principal forgiveness on the loan as well, which Alexander said makes the deal even more attractive to taxpayers.

“We’re getting close to $200,000 in principal forgiveness,” said Alexander. “The cost to the city, it’s going to be close to $600,000 at close to a 2 percent rate over 20 years. If you can get 2 percent for 20 years, you know the federal reserve’s shooting for inflation, so it’s kind of a no-brainer at this time that you need to borrow money to do capital improvements if you can.”

Although the erection of the new tank is an important piece of the overarching water system project, Alexander said the city must also complete some additional projects as well, chief of which is raising the existing 500,000-gallon water tower on State Highway 32.

“This is being coordinated with the raising of the tank on 32,” said Alexander. “You really won’t see an increase in water pressure until we actually raise that tank, so we can have the same hydraulic rate for both. Because the two tanks will be interconnected, you can’t really fill that tank all the way up until you raise the other tank. Otherwise, you fill this one up and it’s higher than the tank over on 32, you’re going to overflow that system over there.”

Alexander said it would take roughly 18 months to get the second tower raised, as well as install additional new lines and manes in the city, which will again be financed through GEFA.

“We’ve just got approval from GEFA for a loan on that project and also some additional new water lines that we’re going to be putting in, but we’re looking at 18 months for that one,” said Alexander. “So it’s going to take a little time. It’s not like going to McDonald’s. But it’s going to happen.”

Although officials expect several months to pass before the community receives the benefits of the water project, Leesburg City Council member Judy Powell is already excited about what this means for residents of Leesburg.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Powell said. “I can’t wait to get this water going, (the pressure) and for the fire and EMS. That’s huge. There’s lots of good things happening in Leesburg.”