Residents of the City of Lumberton can soon look forward to some much-needed water line replacements, as city officials have recently received a $2.5 million grant from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for that work.
Those funds are made possible through the MDEQ’s Mississippi Municipality and County Water Infrastructure Grant Program, which was initiated by Gov. Tate Reeves and the Mississippi Legislature in order to provide matching funds to eligible entities for making necessary investments in water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. Mayor Quincy Rogers said improvements will be made throughout the entire city, with work taking place in various sections.
“We’re going to be changing out all the old iron piping throughout the city, trying to get all this old, galvanized pipe out of the ground and replace it with the C900 (piping),” he said. “The federal government has given municipalities throughout the United States a time frame to get all these old pipes out of the ground, nationwide.
“So we’re trying to get a head start on this thing now.”
The grant is a 2-for-1 match, with the city using its funds from the American Rescue Plan Act to cover its share of the cost. ARPA is the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill issued by the federal government to help the United States recover financially from the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country in early 2020.
According to manufacturer JM Eagle, the C900 pipe – which is nicknamed “Blue Brute” – is a safe, long-lasting and stable solution for modern infrastructure. It is advertised as maintaining performance against tuberculation, corrosion and external galvanic soil conditions without lining wrapping, coating or cathodic protection.
The pipe is touted as keeping a smooth interior over several years of service with virtually no loss in carrying capacity, allowing for savings in pumping costs, as well as savings on the size of the pipe required.
“I’m very excited to know that we are getting this done,” Rogers said. “We’ve got piping in the ground that is probably 40 or 50 years old, or older.
“Most of them have basically disintegrated, and we’re having breaks (in the lines) all throughout the city, and we’re spending a mountain of money on just clamps and different things maintenance-wise. So this will help our city tremendously where we can actually repave our streets, and actually try to bring (the city) back to its former self.”
The Lumberton Board of Aldermen is expected to open bids for the project at this meeting this week, at which point board members will select the lowest and best bids from those offerings. Work will begin shortly after the bid is awarded.
Ward 1 Alderman Kent Crider said residents will see some water service interruptions during the work, but no one should be without water for longer than a few hours.
“There will be some short-term interruptions, in that we’re going to have to replace some of the main lines,” he said. “They’re so old that we’re constantly having to repair them in short little pieces, and we’re going to be doing some big-time upgrading of the system (this time).
“It would be just a matter of a few hours (for service interruptions).”
Once the upcoming water line work is finished, Lumberton officials look forward to even more infrastructure improvements in the near future.
“We’re doing water (lines) this round; next round will actually be water and sewer,” Rogers said. “We’re in discussions right now to do a revolving loan with the federal government … to actually try to change out the remaining parts of the lines throughout the city.”
