Printer-Friendly
Email this Story
Post a Comment (0)
Purcellville considers solutions to water shortage
After weathering a water shortage crisis last summer, the Purcellville Town Council directed town staff members to find ways to address Purcellville's short- and long-term water needs.
The town is looking at options that involve tapping water supplies in Round Hill and Leesburg.
“We're in good shape for this summer,” said Mayor Bob Lazaro, adding that to address short-term needs, the town has tapped into new wells that would produce an extra 175,000 gallons of water.
But future water shortages are a foreseen issue for western Loudoun's towns, he said.
“We don't want to be dependent on Mother Nature,” Lazaro said.
Last week at a joint meeting between Purcellville and Round Hill, Purcellville staff presented possible long-term solutions to address both towns' water needs, working together to share costs and resources. Three preliminary solutions were highlighted.
The first, costing about $33.7 million, would tap into Sleeter Lake's water supply and build a water treatment facility near the lake, just south of Round Hill.
The second, costing about $38.25 million, also would use Sleeter Lake as a water source but would build a water treatment facility at Field Farms, which is just north of Purcellville.
The third option would run a water pipeline along Route 7 between Leesburg and Purcellville. This option is estimated to cost about $24.34 million, not including the cost of water, which residents would buy from Leesburg.
“We cautioned that this alternative has a lot of hoops to jump through,” Purcellville's Director of Public Works Samer Beidas said. These “hoops” include getting Leesburg's permission to tap into its water supply that it gets from the Potomac River, and gaining county and possibly state approvals to build the line between the two towns, Beidas said.
Purcellville and Leesburg representatives met several months ago to discuss this alternative, but plans have not moved forward since then, Leesburg town officials said.
Leesburg representatives were not present at the meeting between Round Hill and Purcellville, Director of Utilities Randy Shoemaker said.
But the potential plans for a water line between Leesburg and Purcellville has already raised objections from Leesburg officials.
Shoemaker said running a line between Leesburg and Purcellville would be hard to get approved. He pointed to recent debates over the power line that will run between the two towns.
“I think the costs for constructing a transmission main would be very expensive,” he said. “We in the water line [business] have a tremendous time getting easements to use land for pipelines.”
In response to reports of that Purcellville was still considering the water line, Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd said she has not and would not support a water line between Leesburg and Purcellville.
“I didn't want to be in a position of enabling more growth west of Leesburg,” Umstattd said.
She also said, “I didn't want Leesburg to be in a position to set the precedent of servicing western towns – Purcellville, Hamilton and Round Hill.”
Both Beidas and Lazaro said said the plans are still in the early stages – and that they are still debating the Round Hill options as well. They also said getting Leesburg's approval of their project plans would be essential in going ahead with plans for linking the towns.
“This is not going to happen tomorrow,” Lazaro said. “We're looking at all options.”
Round Hill Town Manager John Barkley said, “I think they are throwing everything on the table” to find the best and most cost-effective way to fix Round Hill and Purcellville's water problems. “I think the next step is kind of a meeting of the minds between the two town councils [Round Hill and Purcellville].”
Contact the reporter at hhobbs@timespapers.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.