County speaks on upcoming new Bonaire water tower

BONAIRE — Houston County’s newest water tower in Bonaire was just raised for public view, bringing it one step closer to full operation. The tower will hold 1.5 million gallons of water, will be the largest in the county, and is expected to be fully operational in late May.

The tower was a county project funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

“I’m really excited about [the water tower] providing increased water availability, especially during the summer months when usage spikes,” Chairman Dan Perdue said. “Our system, even with this, is a little short on storage, and so we’re continuing to look for opportunities to increase the storage and to ensure when usage is spiking and the tanks go down.”

Utilities Director Terry Dietsch said the county’s water system averages about 18 million gallons a day, with just 3 million gallons in storage.

“We’re adding a million and a half [gallons,] which is like three tanks to our system right now because the largest flag tank is 500,000 gallons,” he said.

The process started when the county received its ARPA funds. Perdue said it was clear the county would use these funds for water improvements.

“We probably spent at least $15 million of the $30 million of ARPA funds in water improvements, and the tanks are about half of that,” he said. “We put a lot of water mains in the south end or more rural parts of Houston County because specifically what the ARPA funds were trying to address were undeserving communities.”

Perdue shared that they considered the old Bonaire Fire Station as a site for the water tower, but there was not enough land. He said a water tower is required near sizable water mains, which led to their decision to place it on Old Perry Road, south of the Highway 96 intersection.

“We were looking in that area because that’s where a significant amount of our use is taking place during those summer months,” he said. “It would be cheaper to buy that piece of land from the landowner and put the tower there than it was to use existing land that we have and run the water main to it.”

Perdue said the graphics were inspired by Bonaire Elementary students, who drew pictures of what they liked about living in Bonaire.

“We took the elements from some of the best pictures and we translated that into the skyline,” he said. “I think it’s just a good thing that represents the local community.”

According to Houston County Public Works Director Brian Jones, Bonaire is a sizable community, with a population similar to that of the City of Perry before the recent growth.

“Having that tank in that area is not only going to provide more consistent water service, but it’s also going to provide more reliable [service],” Jones said. “It is just part of a long term plan that we have developed that includes additional storage, water treatment plants and water mains.”