DeKalb officials told the Dunwoody Homeowners Association at its June 9 meeting that $520 million has been invested in the county’s water treatment system since 2017, but it is still antiquated and fragile.
Maria Houser, the director of the county’s Capital Improvement Plan and Environmental Compliance, said significant achievements in the past seven years include improvements to the plant itself, the development and completion of the first phase of a master plan that will run through the year 2050, and 91 miles of water mains either rehabilitated or upsized. It’s estimated that fixing the entire system will cost more than $4.4 billion.
The department also converted more than 87 percent of its water meters to Advanced Metering Infrastructure, an integrated, fixed-network system that enables two-way communication between utilities and customers.
However, she said, there are significant needs within the system, including the replacement of pipes that have been in the ground since 1909, similar to Atlanta’s aging infrastructure which caused a water crisis last weekend. The last new water main was installed in the southwest Tucker area in 1974.
“1909 pipes should not be in the ground,” Houser said.
Another major concern is a building that contains vital electrical equipment at the Scott Candler Water Plant, which is currently being supported by steel poles.
“Do you all see these poles up against the building? They are not for decoration. They are literally holding up the building,” she said. “The building was modernized but not built correctly, so we are trying to work on that now.”
Projects on the horizon include replacing transfer pumps and dealing with undersized, clogged and aging pipes, especially ones that are constructed using cast iron and cement.
Houser mentioned two major water main break incidents – one in the Buford Highway area and the other on McClendon Road earlier this year. The two pipes, she said, supply about 35 percent of the entire system’s water flow.
“We have laid the foundation, but we need to go much further,” Houser said. “I tell my team that it [looking at the job ahead] can be very discouraging, but we have the opportunity to be the sewage heroes.”
In other news, DeKalb CEO candidate Larry Johnson visited the meeting and asked for Dunwoody’s support in the upcoming runoff election on June 18.
“You need a CEO who is about results,” Johnson said. “Remember, LJ all the way.”
Johnson is running against fellow commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson. Yesterday, Dunwoody Mayor Lynn Deutsch endorsed her candidacy.
The DHA also heard from Fourth of July parade co-chair Matt Weber, who said more than 130 entries have been received, and that sponsorships are on pace to exceed last year’s totals.
