A project aimed at improving water services in local communities should be completed by this time next year, area officials learned this week.

Mike Walraven of the Coosa Valley Water Supply District told members of the county mayors’ association that construction of a water treatment plant on Highway 144 is about 40 percent complete.  Work is also underway to finish a raw water intake and pump station at the site.

“St. Clair County will be set in regard to water when this is all done,” he said.  “St. Clair is one of the fastest growing counties in the state, and this will take care of our long-term water service needs for many years.”

The intake and pump station will extract surface water from a quarry on the 122-acre site owned by the supply district and pump it to the treatment plant, Walraven said.  The facility could handle six million gallons per day.  

Currently, the Coosa River serves as the area’s primary raw water source.  “At the rate we’re growing, you can’t keep pumping ground water at the rate we need.”

The water supply district is comprised of the municipalities of Pell City and Springville, Odenville Utilities, and the St. Clair County Commission.