Piedmont Water held its annual community meetings earlier this month at Lakeside Church, drawing customers from the Landings, Reynolds Lake Oconee, and Cedar Cove Hickory Point neighborhoods.
The meetings included a video presentation highlighting recent service improvements and upcoming infrastructure upgrades.
According to Chief Operating Officer Brent Hurst, Piedmont is experiencing the most growth in Greene County, with many recent and upcoming projects focused on increasing water and wastewater capacity for the Greene side of Lake Oconee.
Through a partnership with Greene County, Piedmont recently completed connecting the Walker Church water system’s customers to the surface water treatment plant at the Richland Connector, bringing surface water to customers who previously relied on well water.
Along the same corridor, Piedmont aims to expand the Carey Station wastewater treatment plant, increasing its capacity from 0.5 million gallons per day to 1 million gallons per day.
Piedmont also plans to increase the capacity of the Reynolds water treatment plant from 2 MGD to 3 MGD and provide equalization flows at the Reynolds reclamation facility, while redistributing the overflow volumes at the Carey Station facility.
For infrastructure projects outside of Greene County, Piedmont soon plans to extend surface water service to Northern Putnam County by connecting the Oconee Crossing system to Technology Park/Cuscowilla. The project will also include the installation of a reverse osmosis system for the groundwater wells in the Oconee Crossing system to improve water quality and supplement the new surface water supply.
According to the video, Piedmont is currently installing smart meters across its service area to solve usage issues and improve its ability to intentionally monitor system usage and capacity for conservation and good business practices.
During the community meetings, Hurst also led a Q-and-A session, responding to a range of customer questions and concerns.
Hurst said the meetings are part of a broader effort to keep customers informed and involved.
“These conversations are important,” he shared in a press release. “It’s about ensuring people have the facts and feel heard. We want to listen, answer questions directly, and show the work we’re doing behind the scenes to deliver safe, reliable water.”