The Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority will soon drill under the Tennessee River to the Decatur water plant to install a main to pump 10 million gallons of water a day.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Tennessee Valley Authority issued a joint public notice this week of the project, saying the agencies had received an application from Limestone for the proposed municipal water line crossing Wheeler Lake at mile 304.6 of the Tennessee.

In February, the authority approved borrowing some $19.2 million for water and sewer improvements over the next two years. Included in the improvements was the 30-inch line under the Tennessee River to the Decatur water plant.

Authority Director Tony Sneed said the total cost of the project, which would include upgrades to a lift station on Thomas Hammonds Drive adjacent to Delphi, would be about $9 million

“This would give us the capacity to pump 10 million gallons a day,” said Sneed. “At a cost of 43 cents per thousand gallons, Decatur has the cheapest rates anywhere around.”

According to Corps of Engineers/TVA description of the water-main project, the line would be installed by directional drill about 30 feet under the channel bottom and follow existing railroad right of way on the north shore. The line would run through about 2,000 linear feet of TVA wetlands to get to the lift station.

The authority currently purchases about 2 million gallons of water a day from Decatur. It is pumped through a 16-inch main affixed to the bottom of the U.S. 31 bridge over the Tennessee that was installed 33 years ago to service Delphi. The announced closing of Delphi in March 2009 will mean a loss of $63,000 per month in water and sewer fees under present usage rates, according to Tammy Smith of the authority accounting office.

The authority also purchases water from the city of Athens at a cost of $1.40 to $1.80 per thousand gallons, depending on usage.

Tim Mitchell, authority planning and construction manager, said in the spring demand for water and sewer services should climb from the present 17,100 customers to 23,250 customers by 2012.

The authority also gained 800 new customers from the transfer of Athens customers under the terms of a lawsuit settlement with the City of Athens over who serves residents in annexed areas.

“I hope this would help both Athens and us,” said Sneed. “It could help Madison and all the communities where we have interconnecting points.”

The authority in May entered a two-year agreement with the City of Madison Water and Wastewater Board to sell that city up to 2 million gallons of water a day at a base rate of about $1.75 per thousand gallons. The infrastructure for that transfer will not be in place until July, Sneed said.

Sneed has said the $1.75 per thousand is the wholesale price the authority charges every governmental body to which it sells water. The LCWSA also sells water to the City of Ardmore, some portions of Minor Hill, Tenn., Giles County, Tenn., and Lawrence County. Sneed said those governments are charged the $1.75 per thousand rate.