Page 7 - Alabama 811 Magazine 2017 Issue 4

olber« coun«y Rural wa«er "We were iinding people didn'« knuw the Phone while l'rn at the table and
sysiecn wasn't always a who in call,” Inhn said ”Theyd call 811 review it- lt l'rn iamiliarenuush uI‘th
member of Alabama 811. Like and «hough« «hal was all they neecled lo the area to ~'ay ‘You're clear,’ thenl
with many olher small wa«er do. when you’m new in the counly, yuu can respond Immediately/' John aanl
syslems, leaders were concerned aboui dldn'l know who «o call, par«icularly "Traditirinallyr you hail tu call guy~
membership cosis and iha« ii rnighl no« with new house cons«ruc«ion. Joining out and do locate~'- Thi~' gives u» the
provide a good return on invesnneni Alabacna 811 has been a cnaior beneli« «o ability to see whats going on before
Thai kep« «he 400 miles of wa«er lines us. They provlde a service In cuslomers we dispatch anybody-"
ou« of «he 811 syslern. and help pllzvznl unnecessary” COM” County... Wm, iymm mm
pm mu. 7 year; ago, c,,n,E,. c.,.,my l"°"l‘"8“ ““‘ “"9 “‘ ‘“°"°Y- abou« 4400 cus«omers and manages its
Engineer Iohn Redford led «he charge As new unlilies and fiber are cocning own water and wa='tewater treatment
In bring «he wa«er sysiecn all board iruo «he area, Juhn assis«s wiih «he Plant». along with about 400 mile~
wilh Alabama 311, and he said the perrni««ing process Ovez «he years, of freshwater lines that range from Z
membership has more «han paid for he's walchecl «he righ«s-or-way become Inches to 18 Inches in aize John said
itself in reduced damages and olher more and more congesiecl in his it's 45 mile» acro-' the county from the
as.socia«ecl cos«s. cocnrnuniry and noled how icnporlani twn iartheat ~'ervice P°l“l‘-
For decades, colberl counly had been £5 “‘:‘}'“X:‘::‘ “::’;‘::§‘i’“‘“‘f With all of that unelersrnund
a typmi Small cnmmungy, whm ‘hffdifl-M Min rm m Alféflinrrlfi an iniraslrucrure, damages were all «oo
«hings «end «ii change slowly. Residents, Mum’ mm and kg? *5“ ‘ O [2 We loined Alabama 811- But now John
local cons«rucnon companies and olhcr 3 ’ l’ 3 P‘ l’ ’ ‘ »aid the number of costly elamasea
utility owner/operalors knew where "You have to know who's in there," ha~' gone down» Now that he's seen
mos« of «he waler iacilines were and he said of Lhe labyrinih of unlilies in how beneficial his 311 memberohiv haa
also knew lhai a call to 811 wasnil each light-ui-way. "I weni aboul 10 been he encourage» otlIer county and
iheir unly due diligence 7 «hey knew years with no membership and rcn municipal engIneer~' to get an boarel
iha« colberi county wasn'« a member, mad ai myseli that l didn't yoin a« «he with Alabama 811 a~' well-
and you harl «ii coniac« the rural waier beginning. lbelieye in cnanrlalory “Sam mm! Wm! Sysmm my Hm
sys«em separalely before lhey slariing a membership wi«h no excepiions, he mm the gm“ of En mmbmynp
P*°l°“‘- added and rnighi ihink «he cos« is 100 high.
As «he coun«y's population Iohn said ihe low rneinbership cos« but It'» a minimal coat anrl you can
began to expand more allracled «hem to Alabama 811, and recoup that cost by Preventing iuat one
rapidly — a «rend «hai John «he service «hey provide keeps colberi break,” he aid
is proud ui 7 an increasecl counry as an aclive pariicipanl. Mm “id hz hm“ had ‘D mum
Eumber of damages quickly led [O Adcliiiuns in the lasi several years «hal anymns to become a mmbm of
— eadaches for him and his crew, allow him to reaci quickly [0 emergency Alabama 8“, and that M in km
since newcocners typlcally hadn't locale requescs have helpecl reduce gmm for h” department and ‘hm
encoun«ercd ihis «ype of unnecessary expenditures of hucnan mmmm
relanunship belween resources.
conlracrors ancl ,1 i rm mun ‘ d M _ "I'm a whole lo« cnore prolecled ihan
uiililies in oiher * 3 “ “f“°’ "“ ‘*9 ““ l was, and Lhavs wha« ii’. all abou«,"
‘mum Mam emergency loca«e, l m able to look a« ht mud .
_ 1
'. from a county engineer’s perspective