The first water service in Fayetteville was installed
before the Civil War and the source of water was Fountainhead Spring.
Water traveled by gravity through hollow logs to the heart of the city.
Some of the logs that have been excavated in recent years are still
in good condition, although unused for many years.
The
first organized effort to supply water to Fayetteville was by the Robinson
Family, probably in the 1890's, when Glenville Lake was formed. At that
time it was known as Robinson's Pond. This system was taken over by
a Mr. Richardson, from New York, who later sold to the McNeill's. In
1903, the McNeill's sold the system to the City of Fayetteville.
The first water filtration plant was installed by the Public Works Commission
(PWC) on Glenville Lake in 1912. The contractor agreed to complete the
plant for the sum of $18,000. The first building stands on the opposite
side of the lake from the present Glenville Lake Plant. The original
capacity of this plant was 1,000,000 gallons of treated water per day
(MGD).
The
present plant on Glenville Lake was built in 1942 with a capacity of
3 MGD. Fayetteville's population at that time was 18,000 persons. The
plant was expanded in 1949 to 5 MGD; in 1954 to 8 MGD; in 1961 to 12
MGD and in 1994 to its ultimate capacity of 18 MGD.
Contracts
were awarded in July 1967 for construction of a second water purification
plant, located on the Cape Fear River. This new plant was designed so
that it can be expanded in increments to an ultimate treatment capacity
of 96 MGD. Named in honor of P.O. Hoffer, a former chairman of the Public
Works Commission, the Hoffer Plant initially treated 8 MGD. In 1975,
an 8 MGD expansion brought the treatment capacity to 16 MGD; and the
most recent additional 16 MGD expansion completed in May 1988 now gives
the Hoffer Plant a treatment capacity of 32 MGD.
Through
the foresight of Fayetteville's forefathers, the citizens of Fayetteville
have, in their Public Works Commission, a significant community asset
with a proud history. The Public Works Commission has kept abreast,
through the years, with demands for a water utility to serve the rapidly
growing city and the surrounding urbanized areas.
The Public Works Commission's (PWC) Water Utility serves all areas within
the City limits of Fayetteville and certain other developed areas outside
the City. On the north, the service area extends to the Town of Spring
Lake and Fort Bragg. The service area extends east to the Community
of Eastover and the Town of Stedman; south to an industrial park on
Tom Starling Road; and west to the Hoke County line.
The
PWC's Water Utility provides retail service to both inside and outside
city residential, commercial and industrial customer classes, as well
as City and PWC facilities. This includes the 1998 merger with the Town
of Hope Mills. The PWC also provides wholesale water service on a contract
basis to Spring Lake, Stedman and Hoke County. Fort Bragg operates and
maintains its own water system and uses the PWC service only for meeting
unusually high peak demands on the Fort Bragg system or as an emergency
water supply.
Customers (as of
June 30, 2008):
Industrial: 10
Commerical: 5,902
Residential:73,879
Population
Served:
185,000
Annual Pumping Average: 24.117 Million
Gallons a Day (MGD)
System Peak Demand: 42.25 MGD (June
8, 1999)
Water Mains: 1,300 miles - PWC,
72 miles operate and maintain *
Water Meters: 88,804
Booster Pump Stations: 7
Fire Hydrants: 7,319 - PWC,
149 - operate and maintain
Effective Storage Capacity: 36.1 MG
Elevated Storage Tanks: 6 (4-1 MG; 1- .5 MG, 1-.1MG)
Ground Storage Tanks: 1 (5 MG)
Clearwell Storage Tanks: 5 (1-1.5 MG, 2-4 MG, 1-5 MG, 1-12 MG
* Stedman and Eastover