A while back the citizens experienced an odd situation with their water. The water had turned brown. The matter was looked into and it was determined to have turned brown due to the heat that had hit the area. One city councilman Grant Keehn started speculating that it was all about the age of the water system, and that rumor took off in the community spreading like wildfire.
Here is a reply from the City of Walhalla from the Mayor Tim Hall about the water.
According to our water experts, last summer’s discolored water was caused by the temperatures which caused excess amounts of iron and magnesium to come into our water system through our Lake Keowee water source. Since then, our water plant has installed a monitoring system, which goes beyond SC DHEC requirements, to detect such a situation should it happen again, and give our water plant operators advance warning to take remedial action.
The city awarded $10 million in grant-funded water and sewer projects over the last few months and completed another $2.2 million water project on Highway 11 in late summer of last year. There is more to do. An in-house estimate put our water and sewer upgrade needs at $30 million. We are actively seeking additional grant funding for these projects.
I invite you to take a look at the comprehensive Water and Sewer Action Plan council adopted in August (by a 5-1 vote)
Some Walhalla citizens and water customers had lingering questions about previous city actions related to our water system, and we compiled answers to their questions in the link below (many of these issues predate our current administration): https://www.cityofwalhalla.com/wp-content/uploads/faqs.pdf
Citizens and water customers can find much more information (including water quality reports) at the Walhalla Public Utilities website: https://www.cityofwalhalla.com/departments/public-utilities/
https://www.cityofwalhalla.com/wp-content/uploads/walhalla-water-strategy.pdf
At last week’s meeting on this, our utilities director estimated around $10.5 million in needs (I will need to check on the exact amount) over the next 12 months, with the majority paid by grants. The city would be responsible for up to $650,000, but could be less. Estimates for upgrading the entire system are now $19-25 million over the next 10 years. Those are rough estimates and subject to change until we can get a third party report on it
As always, I invite anyone with additional concerns or this or any other city matter to contact me directly by email at thall@cityofwalhalla.com or by phone at 864-710-6848
