Brunswick County officials and consultants from Hazen and Sawyer are urging St. James residents to complete a survey regarding potential use of reclaimed water for residential irrigation purposes by the Wednesday, February 19 deadline.

Reclaimed water is currently used for irrigation on golf courses in St. James Plantation, and county officials have begun looking at the possibility of offering it for irrigation on residential lawns as well. Doing so would reduce demand on the county’s potable water supply, especially in the visitor- and irrigation-heavy summer months, and would help postpone the need for expansion of the water system. Residents would be charged a lower rate for the reclaimed water than the rate charged for potable water used for irrigation.

But before the design process proceeds, county officials want to know if residents are interested in the reclaimed water for irrigation. The responses will let county officials know if they should proceed with the project and, if so, will help give a better idea of what rates would be.

“We would encourage each property owner to submit a response to the survey to indicate his or her willingness—or unwillingness—to connect to an irrigation system using reclaimed water,” said Brunswick County Public Utilities director Jerry Pierce. “The results of the survey will be provided to the board of commissioners so they can make an informed decision about whether to move forward with the project.”

“It is really important that we hear back from as many residents as possible so that we can determine if residential reuse is economically feasible,” said Patricia Drummey Stiegel, senior principal engineer with Hazen and Sawyer. “We will incorporate information from the survey into our model to determine system phasing and sizing. We hope residents will let us know what they think, even if they are undecided about reuse at their homes.

“We hope residents take this opportunity to learn more about water reuse in general and the potential for reuse in St. James in particular,” she added.

“Water reuse is commonly practiced around the U.S. and is an important part of a community’s long-term water supply portfolio,” added Ben Stanford, director of applied research with Hazen and Sawyer. “We feel confident that effluent reuse at St. James provides a safe, sustainable way to minimize demand on the drinking water system while preserving a resource for use in the community.”

Residents can access the survey at http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1497464/St-James-Effluent-Reuse-Survey-1. The survey will only be available until Wednesday, February 19.

Fact sheets about the potential project, slides shown during two community meetings in St. James and a summary of questions asked at those meetings are all on Brunswick County’s website under the Utilities page.

The Reclaimed Water Study Committee Report, completed by a committee of St. James residents and presented to the St. James Town Council last week, is available on the Town of St. James’ website.

The survey is open to all St. James residents, though officials are requesting one response per household.

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