Fayette County

Water System is ready for another dry season, but local officials would

like a little more flexibility in dealing with summer demand.

The county's

reservoirs are now full, reported Tony Parrott, director of the Water

System.

"We're

ready for summertime," Parrott told the county Water Committee last

week.

But state-imposed

mandatory watering restrictions actually create a problem for the Water

System, he added. In addition to allowing outdoor watering on an odd-even

schedule, the state bans all watering from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., which creates

a spike of peak demand in the early morning, he said.

"We would

prefer odd-even all day long so we don't have that peak in the morning,"

he said.

Committee members

voted to recommend that the County Commission write a letter to the state

Environmental Protection Division and, in the words of Chairman Chuck

Watkins, "tell them why we want to go back to odd-even watering.

We've been using this system for a long time and it's worked really well,"

he said.

The Water Committee

also took steps to reduce the effects of that peak demand on the water

tanks at Ga. Highway 92 and Lee's Mill Road, thus reducing the possibility

that customers in the area will run into water pressure problems.

Sixteen-inch

water lines on Westbridge Road feed the current 500,000-gallon tank and

will feed the two-million-gallon tank under construction next to it, and

those lines can't carry water fast enough to fill the tanks overnight.

So if evening demand is high, it's difficult to get the tanks full for

the morning peak, said Parrott.

Committee members

unanimously approved a recommendation that the County Commission approve

engineering work for a new 24-inch line along New Hope Road to feed the

tanks, along with a booster pump on Ellis road. A two-million-gallon tank

on Ellis Road will be filled by 30-inch lines coming directly from the

county's new water treatment plant on Antioch Road, and the booster pump

will allow the thirsty tank on Hwy. 92 to drink its fill from the same

source.