NEW WATER SYSTEM IN S. ILLINOIS

McCLURE, Ill. -- Some families in central and northern Alexander County will start receiving water from a new source today.

Homes in the East Cape Girardeau-McClure Water District will be put on line about mid-morning by SouthWater Inc., a not-for-profit water company.

The wait will be a few hours longer for residents in the Olive Branch area of Central Alexander County Water District. They should start receiving water during early to mid-afternoon.

The new system is a result of a four-year project for Southwater Inc., which was created by Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative to provide clean, safe drinking water to more than 1,600 families in Alexander, Pulaski and Union counties.

Construction of a multimillion-dollar water treatment and distribution center to serve portions of the three counties started last year at a site between Tamms and Olive Branch.

The $20 million project will be completed in multiple phases. Phase I will serve as many as 2,700 families in Southern Illinois. The project calls for wholesaling water to a half dozen water districts -- Pulaski, Mill Creek, Mounds, Dongola, McClure-East Cape Girardeau and Central Alexander County districts.

Phase II, which will provide management services for SouthWater, will add at least one additional municipal system -- Ullin Water District -- and a number of individuals, boosting the overall user list to more than 3,000 homes.

The new water plant is alongside the Olive Branch-Tamms Blacktop just south of Egyptian High School. Plans call for a 2.4 million gallon-a-day water treatment plant, three wells, a booster pump station, a 500,000-gallon ground-storage tank, a 750,000-gallon elevated storage tank and 159 miles of 8-, 10- and 12-inch water main with valves and meters.

The idea for the regional water treatment center emerged Nov. 18, 1993, during a meeting of representatives from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Southern Five Regional Planning Commission, Farmers Home Administration, Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, and Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative.

The average residential monthly fee charged by SouthWater will be $27. That would include the use of about 4,500 gallons of water. Early tap-on fees for individuals were $150, but once construction passed a house, the hook up fee went to $350.