$46,000 grant to allow Franklin County Water Service Authority to purchase replacement tank
A grant announced by Alabama Governor Kay Ivey’s office this week will help the Franklin County Water Service Authority (FCWSA) replace a leaking fiberglass tank at its water treatment plant in western Franklin County.
The $46,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission will be matched by the FCWSA to fund the $92,000 cost of replacing one of the plant’s three tanks used to filter water through a calcite filter. The tanks also contain limestone. After the water is treated, its alkalinity is stripped out causing it to have a low ph.
When the treated water goes through the limestone, it reaccumulates that lost alkalinity. Most water treatment plants feed lime into their treated water to increase its ph, but the FCWSA’s tanks use limestone instead.
One of FCWSA’s three tanks is new, having been installed early this year. One is functioning properly and one needs replacing, according to FCWSA’s Manager Steve Swinney.
“These tanks are very unusual,” Swinney said. “Our plant was built different than just about any other. We need water to be at a neutral ph or a little over. Most plants feed lime, so this is just a different way of doing it.”
A ph of 7.0 is neutral and the Environmental Protection Agency recommends municipal drinking water have a ph between 6.5 and 8.5.
The $92,000 project will ensure better water quality for FCWSA’s 1,681 households and the 16 businesses it serves, as well as some Marion County residents in the Bull Mountain community, which is expected to be supplied water from FCWSA starting sometime in 2026.
Marion County officials obtained a $1,000,000 grant to install approximately six miles of lines to connect to the water supply in the Town of Vina, which purchases its water from Franklin County Water Service Authority. The expansion into Marion County will provide much-needed additional income for the FCWSA.
“We have done our budget for the coming year and, unless some catastrophic event hits us, everything looks okay for next year,” Swinney said. “Marion County officials say they’re still on track to be purchasing water by this time next year.”
Swinney said the expansion into Marion County will provide water service to an unserved community that must rely on well water.
“The use rate range is between 75,000 and 100,000 gallons a day. That’s not a tremendous amount of water, but the area it’s going to has more than 500 people who don’t have access to public water,” Swinney said.
“Marion County received grant monies to get water to every resident who wants it. The potential for growth is really big as far as residential water service in that community,” he added.
Ivey said the Franklin County grant was awarded to help ensure the FCWSA plant can continue to provide reliable service to the homes and businesses that depend on it.
“I commend local leaders in Franklin County for their dedication to improving the safety and reliability of their utilities,” Ivey said.