Miles SmithThe town of Pulaski, Virginia, is planning to spend $25 million to make extensive upgrades to its nearly 75-year-old water system.
The town plans to pay for the project with a combination of grant funding and increased utility rates for customers.
Work is expected to begin in approximately three years, project officials said.
Much of the project revolves around replacing a water tank and the system’s pulsator, which uses a sludge blanket to remove suspended solids from water, with a new design that involves four sedimentary basins that use gravity.
The Pulaski water plant began operations in 1952 using a sedimentation basin method of straining out impurities before sending water into the filter chambers, but this changed in 1988 when a pulsator system was installed.
The town is one of three in Virginia still using a pulsator system. While water quality has remained relatively high through the years, town officials say problems in the system are becoming more evident.
Plans also include renovating the pump station at Peak Creek and a leaking feeder pipe that brings water from the creek to the water plant.
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