May 30, 2012 (Okatie, SC) — Beaufort – Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) started construction on a major water line in Southern Beaufort and Jasper Counties. The 36 inch line will begin near the Purrysburg Water Treatment Plant, located near the Savannah River west of Hardeeville, and extend through the Levy – Limehouse – Bellinger Hill (LLBH) area. It will connect to BJWSA’s system between Pritchardville and the Bluffton area.
The water line increases supply to Bluffton and Southern Beaufort County, and it extends service to a large southern portion of these Counties. The project also connects the LLBH System to BJWSA’s extensive potable water system supplied from the Savannah River. The LLBH system is currently supplied by groundwater from the Upper Floridan Aquifer.
“This project is part of how we’re responsibly planning for the future”, said Ken Griffin, BJWSA’s General Manager. “Not only will it help us ensure adequate capacity for this region of our service area, but it further reduces any reliance on the Upper Floridan Aquifer as a water supply,” Griffin said. The Upper Floridan Aquifer has been impacted by saltwater intrusion caused in part by withdrawals from South Carolina and Georgia, and SC Department of Health and Environmental Control regulates the amo unt of water taken out of it.
The water line is the largest transmission project BJWSA has ever undertaken, consisting of about 78,000 linear feet of 36 – inch water line. Construction will take about one year to complete at a cost of $14 million.
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