Drought causing concern for Pine Hill water officials
By Arthur McLean Editor

This year's drought has Pine Hill's water treatment plant working near full capacity this month. For the past three weeks, the plant, Thomasville's source for water, has operated 24 hours per day, according to water superintendent Dusty McDanel.

For the month, the plant has pumped an average of 1.95 million gallons per day. It is permitted to pump up to 2.1 million gallons per day.

So far, the plant has kept up with demand, but Pine Hill officials are worried that any hiccups in the system could lead to problems down the road.

"We are in a pretty critical situation," McDanel said. Water levels at the Alabama River continue to drop, and officials with Alabama Power and the Corps of Engineers have talks about further restricting water flow down the river during the drought.

Pine Hill officials are asking those on the Pine Hill and Thomasville water systems to begin conserving water use. "If you have grass and shrubbery, and you're trying to keep both green, I'd give up on the grass right now," McDanel said.

Pine Hill's concerns contrast with Thomasville mayor Sheldon Day who praised Pine Hill at Monday night's council meeting for keeping up with demand. Day said Thomasville's storage capacity is better than it's been in years and that the system is keeping up with demand.

But Pine Hill officials say if there is a major leak at any of the pipes serving the system, it wouldn't take long for there to be real problems. And Pine Hill's water system is starting to see some pipes burst from the constant operating at high pressures and the drought making ground shift. To date, no water line breaks have been major, but water officials are asking everyone to be on the lookout for water line leaks and to report them.

"We don't want to go to mandatory water restrictions and we're not to that point yet," McDanel said. "We're hoping people will begin to reduce their water usage on their own."

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