City of Milledgeville approves $55 million in bonds for water system upgrade

For the past decade, aging infrastructure and bad weather have led to a series of water outages in Milledgeville, leaving residents and businesses without water for up to two days at a time.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – For the past decade, aging infrastructure and bad weather have led to a series of water outages in Milledgeville, leaving residents and businesses without water for up to two days at a time. That’s why the city recently approved $55 million dollars in bonds, aimed at improving infrastructure and water service to customers.

“We certainly can’t do anything about the weather,” said Hank Griffeth, the City Manager of Milledgeville. “But we can do something about the aging infrastructure that we’ve got.” 

Water main breaks have led to a number of outages and boil water advisories. When the bond money is available, Griffeth says a large portion will go toward remodeling the Lamar Hamm Water Treatment Plant with up-to-date equipment and technology. Griffeth says the plant has been in use since the early 1950s.

“It’s got some really, really good bones,” Griffeth said. “It still does a really good job processing water, but we need to modernize it.” 

The city will also invest a minimum of $1 million per year toward capital improvements to the city’s water pipes, along with efforts already underway.

“We’ve got areas in town, actually some areas that we’ve already had engineering done on,” Griffeth said. “We’ve got those areas out to bid currently, so we’re even looking at make improvements to those even before this bond money starts coming in.”

Griffeth says demolition of the plant’s outdated sections will begin soon, and he expects construction of new ones to begin in January. He adds that improvements to the plant should help the city treat roughly 20 million gallons of water per day, compared to the 13 million it treats a day currently.