Artesian makes pitch to supply water to Milton
Artesian Water Resources officials made their case for connecting to Milton's water system at the Nov. 5 town council meeting. The company's offer would make water available to both the town and water utility should the need arise.
George Phillips, director of planning coordination, and Rodney Wyatt, director of operation compliance, presented council members with a rough plan for the possible connection. Artesian has 22 interconnections in Delaware and pumped 7.5 million gallons of water last year to about 250,000 to 300,000 people.
“An interconnection is, we feel, the epitome of a cooperative effort between neighbors,” said Phillips. “If you have two neighbors working together to make sure everyone's water issues are handled in a cost-effective manner, it's a win-win situation for everybody.”
Artesian has a plant in the Beaver Creek community on Route 5 north of Route 9 that has a pumping capacity of 1 million gallons. Phillips said the water utility could lend up to 500,000 gallons to Milton should it be needed. Linking to Milton's system – about 2.5 miles away – would cost less than $1 million and could be up and running six to nine months after being approved, Phillips said.
An interconnection would not replace Milton's existing system, but would act as a backup.
Milton has 225,000 gallons of water storage available in its two water towers, and is permitted to pump up to 500,000 gallons per day by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. An interconnection may not relieve the town's need for addition storage. The rule of thumb is towns should have at least a day's worth of water in storage, and engineers from CABE Associates and Pennoni Associates have both recommended the town consider adding more water storage.
In March, CABE engineer Scott Hoffman suggested the town build a 500,000-gallon water tower, but in a referendum residents voted against borrowing money.
Stephen McCabe from Pennoni further recommended the town pursue an interconnection and investigate increasing the amount of water allowed to be pumped per day.
By connecting with the Artesian network, Phillips said, Milton would have a more reliable water system and 100 percent redundancy. Artesian has interconnections with Bethany Beach, Middletown and Wilmington, but, Phillips said, all interconnections are different because they are based on the specific needs of the parties involved.
“By the very nature of our business, we need to be adverse to risk,” Phillips said. “We need to take any steps necessary to ensure that we have access to an emergency water supply. One of the ways we do that is through interconnections.”
Phillips said an interconnection could be beneficial to both Milton and Artesian, especially in the case of an emergency.
In September, representatives from Tidewater Utilities expressed interest in a one-way interconnection, where Milton would purchase water from the utility when needed.
Town council has made no decisions regarding interconnections with neighboring utility companies, but the topic is expected to be discussed further at upcoming water committee and town council meetings.
