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Grant: $1,000,000 |
Outline of Need: The Panacea Area Water System, located in the southwestern art of Wakulla County, serves the communities of Panacea, Panacea Park and development along Mashes Island and Surf Road. The community is a low-income area with its economy heavily dependent on public sector jobs, tourism and seasonal residents and, to a limited extent, fishing and shellfishing in the Gulf of Mexico. The aging Panacea Area Water System has been serving these area communities for some time and is utilizing what is now recognized as unsafe A-C pipe installed many years ago. The growing area is also in need of an improved distribution system to meet peak demand, provide fire protection and to maintain the required operating pressures throughout the sytem. |
The water system service area is well defined as it is bounded to the north and west by the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Dickerson Bay forms the eastern boundary and Ochlocknee Bay forms the southern boundary. The system currently serves a population of 3,500 people with 1,010 residential and commercial connections. Major water users in the service area are the seafood, commercial and tourist industries.
The average amount of unaccounted for water in the system during 1998 and 1999 was 24 percent or 1,982,026 gallons per month. The American Water Works Association (AWWA) recommends that utilities establish a goal of unaccounted for water of less than 10 percent. The system's unaccounted for water can be attributed to several factors including unmetered municipal sources, distribution leaks, inaccurate meters and line flushing. The distribution system has a large asbestos cement component, the pumping equipment at the wells is old and inefficient and the control systems are malfunctioning.
How Rural Development Helped:
USDA Rural Development assistance will provide for replacement of the major distribution lines throughout the Panacea Area Water System Service Area, rehabilitation of one of the two elevated storage tanks, replacement of one well and rehabilitation of the other two wells currently in service. This project addresses all of these problems in addition to needed maintenance issues. The project is much needed to efficiently provide communities with safe and dependable water service as well as protecting adjacent environmentally sensitive areas.
Pictured, above: Florida Rural Development State Director Charles W. Clemons, Sr., congratulating Mike Faulk, Jr., President of the Panacea Area Water System, Inc. at Rural Development's Earth Day Event in Panacea, Florida. Also pictured are elected officials and honored guests.
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