DENMARK – A permit necessary for operation of a new regional water system in southwestern Bamberg County was issued by state officials Thursday.

Thom Berry, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control spokesman, said the agency must perform other tests before the water system serving the towns of Govan and Olar goes online.

“We did inspect the (Olar) tank and gave approval for it to begin operation,” Berry said. “Some work still needs to be done on the distribution lines in the Olar area. They haven’t been pressure tested, and bacteria tests haven’t been performed. The lines in Govan have all been tested and they checked out okay.”

“If all goes well we anticipate the entire system could be up and running in a couple of weeks,” he said.

During the Olar Town Council’s July meeting, Mayor Walter O’Rear said he felt the regional system wouldn’t be operational until the second week of August. O’Rear revised his estimation Friday.

“I’m hoping now it will be by the end of this month. The pump in Govan and the tank in Olar have been cleared by DHEC,” O’Rear said. “Most of the water lines have been put in. Right now the biggest task is getting the hook ups to the individual meters. We have approximately 130-135 hook ups in Olar.”

He said the administrative duties on the new system, at least initially, will be handled by the Town of Olar because we have the biggest part of the system.

“We have a clerk and town hall where the system can be located. Right now our engineers are in charge of project until it is complete,” O’Rear said.

Govan Mayor John Ganus says work on water tap installation in Govan was delayed this week but he anticipates that could begin next week.

“I’m not certain all the taps are ready to go, but it’s close,” Ganus said. “It just takes a few minutes to install the taps for each resident. We’ll have about 30 taps going in here. There wasn’t anyone in town to perform that work as of (Thursday). It may take about three days to get the necessary equipment in here, but I think that work could be complete by July 15-20.”

“What we would like to do is get both towns online with the system and then have a celebration with our citizens,” Ganus said.

He said there have been some difficult times occasionally with the project but it will soon become a reality.

“We are looking forward to this with all our friends,” he said.

The $2 million used to fund construction of the regional water system came from different sources, including a Community Development Block Grant, the Environmental Protection Agency and the South Carolina Budget and Control Board.

O’Rear said the town had to incur a debt of $246,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to fund replacement of the outdated water system.

“Getting the system online first is my main priority right now,” O’Rear said. “We will have to pay back the money we borrowed to finance this. I hope to be around to see that debt retired.

“I just want to do the right thing for our towns with a reliable water system for our residents.”

T&D Staff Writer Phil Sarata can be reached by e-mail at psarata@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5540.

You must be logged in to comment.