City of Lavonia Replacing Water Intake Pumps

The City of Lavonia is working to replace two aging water intake pumps in Hartwell Lake.

Both intake pumps, which supply water from Hartwell Lake to Lavonia City water customers, are at least 20 years old and according to City Manager Gary Fesperman need to be replaced before they begin to fail.

At their meeting this month, the Lavonia City Council approved a plan to replace the pumps at the end of Franklin County Boat Ramp Road and Crawford Creek.

Fesperman said the city is now taking bids for the project.

“We’re at that point where we’re ready to go to bid,” he said. “Basically, what we’re doing is replacing both of the submersible pumps and wet well at the Hartwell Intake Station and all of the electronics that control the pumps. We’re also adding in a booster station at the end of Franklin County Boat Ramp Road to boost the capacity of the pumps so we can bring in a little extra water to the plant in order to maximize the operational capacity at the plant.” 

Total cost of the project is about $950,000.

Fesperman said part of the cost will be paid for with a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission and should take about three months to complete.

“Once we get started it will take approximately 120 – 130 days to complete,” Fesperman said. “The only construction will be to build the little building that will be sitting on Franklin County Boat Ramp Rod to house the booster station.”

The water intake and pump replacement project should not affect water customer service while the new pumps are being installed.