Sales up for Water District

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor

During the first three months of 2015, the Webster County Water District (WCWD) has outpaced it’s 2014 numbers in both sales and production.

“We’ve gradually been adding people onto lines that didn’t exist before,” said District Superintendent Paul Lashbrook. “Plus, mining continues to be good for us.”


March saw the largest increase in water sales of the three month period. In 2014 WCWD sold 22,273,470 gallons during March, but this year sales were up by 3.1 million gallons, bring the monthly total to 25,433,710 gallons. For the year sales are up by 4,989,065
The district has also seen a larger increase in production, turning out 2.9 million more gallons in the first three months of the year than they did in 2014.

The district started their annual line flushing process over the weekend. The entire procedure will last nine to ten days, and will be conducted at low usage hours between 9:45 p.m. and 6:15 a.m. Crews will start near the water plant in Onton, and will work their way across the county.

The flushing process is part of a require program necessary to maintain the integrity of the district’s water system and insure the highest quality water possible to it’s customers.
Flushing sometimes results in discolored water, resulting in a warning against washing whites during that time period.

“I don’t expect discolored water this year,” said Lashbrook. “That happens as the flushing cleans the pipes. We’ve flushed pretty hard the last couple of years, so I don’t think there will be a problem.”

Lashbrook also told the district board that once the weather dried up a little, crews would begin extending a waterline from Sebree Pratt Road to the Sebree City Limits. A fire hydrant will be installed at that location, just a short distance from a hydrant on the end of the water system of the city of Sebree.

Ideally, in the event of an emergency, those to hydrants could be connected to allow the county to feed water to the Sebree system.