Sanford city government has received $9.3 million from the state for multiple drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects, according to a release sent by North Carolina Governor Josh Stein’s office on Wednesday.
$2 million of the funding is earmarked for the national lead service line project, which is working to document water service lines to ensure they’re not adding lead to drinking water. Due to Sanford’s recent water system merger with Siler City and Chatham County (the systems became TriRiver Water under the merger), the city is now responsible for that project in those areas.
“It’s important to be aware that excess lead is NOT in the TriRiver Water drinking water. TriRiver Water has met EPA lead regulations since lead testing began in 1992. In that time, TriRiver Water has never detected elevated lead levels in its tap water samples,” a TriRiver web article about the project reads. “For the last decade, we have also posted annual water quality reports online for Sanford and Pittsboro that include sample results on regulated substances such as lead. However, homes or businesses built before March 1987 could have lead in their plumbing. That’s why the EPA recently revised its Lead and Cooper Rule, mandating an investigation into and potential replacement of service lines.”
Another $7.3 million from the state will go toward the Dry Creek Basin Sewer Rehabilitation Project, according to TriRiver Public Information Officer Cameron Clinard. That project is an ongoing effort to find and evaluate sanitary sewer overflows in the Dry Creek Basin, which has had an ongoing issue with overflows after heavy rainstorms or flooding. The funding will be used to identify the cause of the overflows and carry out construction aimed at fixing the problem.
The funding is part of a $204 million package aimed at 27 counties across the state.
Why does our water taste weird compared to the tap water in Cary? Just something I’ve noticed.
I guess because Durham’s and Chapel Hill’s sewage taste different from Greensboro, Sanford, and Asheboro?
Cary uses Ozone as it’s biological decontamination process. Then it adds Ammonia and Chlorine. The City uses Sodium Hydroxide and Sodium Hypochlorate. IIRC the rough difference is residual ammonia resulting in Ammonia water having a vague hint of human sweat smell and Chlorine water having the vague hint of a swimming pool. Maybe a real expect will clip clop along here and go into detail. Sanford has to produce a lot of water for industrial usage and it has to have a certain consistency and chemical composition. Changes can be a big deal and create problems on the Waste Water end. What the City wants to avoid is sewage that eats up pipes and raises costs down at the plant (this is why you have pre-treatment programs). Cary’s water intake is on Jordan Lake downstream from the old New Hope River. That river was drowned by Jordan Lake. Durham and OWASA discharge into that basin. The Cary intake is far upstream of where the Haw River hits Jordan Dam and so from a practical standpoint, Cary doesn’t use Haw River water. Sanford’s water in the Cape Fear comes from the Deep, Haw, Rocky, and New Hope Rivers. That’s High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, and Asheboro among others. The water flows through the Carolina Slate Belt which is a series of hard, igneous rocks with various minerals including Iron, Copper, Gold, Sodium, Calcium, Phosphorus, Coal, etc. The water flow picks up some of this stuff. Cary water starts in Northern Durham and NW Chapel Hill and flows through Triassic Basin sediment and then a sandy organic mix just west of Apex. I trust the operators of Sanford’s water system with my life, and my children’s lives.
Every time I read an article about the Sanford/Lee County water system I get more and more frustrated. They continue to expand the system to accommodate big companies outside the county but will not consider providing water to those of us within Lee county who still do not have access to the water system. I just to not understand. I have begged/pleaded and asked everyone I know to ask and no one cares. Every time we have a drought I worry that my well will go dry but Sanford/Lee county won’t care about that either. I pay county taxes just like every other citizen but am not afforded the same benefits. Ok, I’m finished ranting.
Hi Melanie,
You live in the boondocks so to speak several thousand feet from the nearest water line. Your county taxes pay nothing to the City’s water system – nothing. The water system is paid for by the rates it charges. They can’t possibly charge you a price that you could actually pay to extend water to your location. The water system is a utility – not government per se. Beyond the cost, there are several more reasons that a large water line has not continued from Plank Road all the way out to Carbonton. The first reason is that your area is farmland and when you stick a water line into farmland you ruin it and it becomes residential or worse yet, can become ag-industrial. The second reason is that before you hit the Deep River’s more recent (last 200 year) floodplain, you are otherwise sitting on brownstone rock. That makes septic tanks difficult. If it costs $250,000 to extend a line to you, how many other customers do you think are needed to pay that cost off? If the City charges you $250 a month for the cost of the extension it will take 1,000 months to pay the City it’s cost. That’s 83 years. If you had a total of 10 customers that would be only 8.3 years. Do you have 9 close neighbors needing water? Perhaps you need to invest in a new, deeper well.
I agree with most of what you state in your post but running a water line will not likely encourage residential development in that area due to soil types not being conducive for septic systems as you also state. Now if water and sewer were run it is a different story.