PLANS PROCEED FOR ILLINOIS WATER SYSTEM

DONGOLA, Ill. -- Following preliminary water test results showing good quality water, plans continue to buy right of way, and an engineering firm is in the process of preparing preliminary designs for a water storage tank, piping system and plant facility for a proposed new multi-county water system in Southern Illinois.

"We're proceeding," said Larry Lovell, general manager of Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative, which has embarked on a project to provide safe drinking water in rural areas of five counties -- Alexander, Pulaski, Union, Johnson and Massac.

"We hope of have a site for our facility within two months," Lovell added. "If everything goes well, we could go out with bids in the late spring or 1996 and be producing water by early 1997."

The Southern Illinois project is being carried out under the auspices of Southwater Inc., which was formed by Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative.

Southwater has acquired funding to start Phase I of the water treatment and distribution facility, which calls for 45 miles of transmission pipe to serve Alexander, Pulaski and Union counties. Phase I will also include the water treatment facility and wells that will tap into the system's water source, an underground aquifer where thousands of years ago the Ohio River joined the Mississippi.

Southwater will receive almost $3.2 million in grants and $3 million in loans from the Rural Utilities Service and $1.6 million from the Illinois Department of Community Affairs for Phase I work.

"We have three people out working on right of way," Lovell said, "and, the water tests have been positive near the area we hope to obtain."

Clarida Engineering Co. of Marion has been selected as architect for the project.

Tentative plans for the facility call for building a 2.4 million-gallon-a-day water treatment plant, two wells, a booster pump station, a 500,000-gallon ground storage tank, a 750,000-gallon elevated storage tank and 45 miles of 8-, 10- and 12-inch water mains with valves and meters.

Southwater will sell water wholesale to communities and water districts that want to become a part of the system. They include the Central Alexander County Water District in the Olive Branch area and McClure-East Cape Girardeau Water District and districts at Mill Creek, Mounds and Pulaski.

As many as 1,600 homes in the service area aren't connected to a municipal water system, and 80 percent of residents have indicated they will sign on with Southwater.

Some households in Southern Illinois truck in their drinking water from community wells or drink rainwater from cisterns.

Water supply is a problem in many parts of Illinois.

It isn't uncommon for rural households to pay $80 to $100 a month for water for residential use, said a USDA Rural Economic and Community Development Services official this week.

The average monthly fee by Southwater will be about $27, said Lovell. That would include the use of about 4,500 gallons of water.

Before construction starts, tap-on fees are $150, added Lovell, saying: "But, once construction goes past your house, the hook up fee will be $350."