SAFE WATER FOR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

TAMMS, Ill. -- On the verge of the 21st century, evidence exists that more than 1 million Americans live in rural areas without something the great majority of people take for granted: clean, safe drinking water flowing into their homes.

This statistic may be surprising, but it's true, according to the U.S. Census Population and Housing statistics.

That translates into about 400,000 families.

Probably, 1,600 of the families live in three downstate counties of Southern Illinois: Alexander, Pulaski and Union.

SouthWater Inc., a not-for-profit company created by Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative (SIEC) more than four years ago, wants to do something about that.

Construction of a new multimillion-dollar water treatment and distribution center to serve portions of the three counties will get under way near here as soon as weather permits.

The site for the processing facility has been selected, funding is in place for the first phase of the project, and piping for the first 60 miles of water lines may be observed stacked throughout the area.

The $20 million project will be completed in several phases. Phase I of the project will serve as many as 2,700 families in the Southern Illinois area, including a number of them already equipped with hot-and-cold piped water.

The project calls for wholesaling fresh, safe water to a half-dozen water districts -- Pulaski, Mill Creek, Mounds, Dongola, McClure-East Cape and Central Alexander County (Olive Branch area).

More than 300 individual homes not connected to a municipal water system have already signed up for the new system. As many as 80 percent -- over 1,200 families -- have indicated they will sign up as future phases go into effect.

For some, the hookup for safe water and modern plumbing could come as early as 1998 during phase I of the regional water treatment center, which will provide up to 60 miles of transmission pipe.

For others the wait will be a little longer.

The first phase of the project will serve the areas of the six water districts that have agreed to use the new system. Phase II, which will provide management services for SouthWater, will add at least one addition municipal system, maybe more, and a number of individuals, boosting the overall user list to more than 3,000 homes, said Larry Lovell, executive vice president of SIEC.

SouthWater representatives have already met with contractors for the jobs. These include contractors for the water plant, water towers, plant equipment, well and water-line installation.

Plans for the new facility, to be located alongside the Olive Branch-Tamms Blacktop just south of Egyptian High School, 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 vales and meters.

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

Financing for the first $9.8 million phase was put into place recently. For Phase I, SouthWater has received $4 million in grants, $3.89 million in loans form Rural Development, formerly known as Farmers Home Administration, and $2 million from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs.

In between the initial 1993 meeting and last month's financial announcement, SouthWater tested a number of water well sites. Following preliminary water test results showing good quality water, SouthWater representatives spent a year buying right-of-ways, and engaged the services of an engineering firm to prepare preliminary designs for a water storage tank, piping system and plant facility.

Construction can get under way as soon as weather permits, said Glen Clarida of Clarida Engineering of Marion, which helped design the SouthWater project.

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

A number of individuals have already signed on as retail customers of SouthWater. The company had a goal of 300 individual users for Phase I and surpassed that goal early last week.

Current tap-on fees for individuals are $150. "But once construction passes your house, the hook up fee goes to $350," said Lovell.

Phase II will include another wholesale user -- Ullin -- and a number of individuals. This will boost the overall user list to more than 3,000.

"We hope to see Phase I water service start in early 1998," said Lovell.

Marvin N. Teckenbrock, district director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development, said the regional water concept is great. Water, he said, "is important to people living in the area, and great for industrial prospects."

Water is not cheap.

People in some Southern Illinois areas tell of paying up to $80 a month for water -- $60 for non-drinking water and $20 for drinking water. Others in the area depend on water from wells and cisterns. One well-water user told of illnesses in the family that were eventually traced to the drinking water, which contained contaminants from seepage from nearby raw sewage flow.