Agenda - 06-04-1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orang_e Water And Sewer Authority The Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) was created in 1976 by Orange County and the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill to purchase and operate the water system then owned by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. OWASA is authorized by law to operate and maintain water and sewer systems located in southern Orange County, to issue revenue bonds to pay for such operation and maintenance and to set fees for the pro- vision of sewer and water service. OWASA has no taxing power. It is administered by a board of nine members appointed by the boards of aldermen of the Towns of Carrboro (two members), Chapel Hill (five members) and the Board of County Comissioners (two members) . OWASA estimates that it serves about 54,000 customers and pumps an average of slightly over five million gallons per day (mgd) . The OWASA system draws raw water fran University Lake which lies just west of Carrboro-Chapel Hill. It has a capacity of approximately 3.0 mgd. The University Lake supply is supplemented by raw-water storage in the form- er American Stone Company Quarry site on N. C. 54 just west of Carrboro. The storage capacity of the quarry is 2.0 mgd giving a yield for the OWASA system of 5.0 mgd. OWASA is interconnected to both the Durham and Hillsborough water sys- tem. The Durham connection is by an 8 inch and a 12 inch pipeline. The two lines can supply up to 3.9 mgd to OWASA. In 1977 OAWSA con- , structed a 16 inch pipeline connection to Hillsborough. Under the agreement between the two systems OWASA can receive up to 2.0 mgd. This pipeline was used for the first time during the summer of 1979. Water demand projections for the OWASA system are shown in Figure2- 1. They are based on several independent population projections made for Orange County. The current estimated dependable safe yield of the OWASA raw water supply is also shown in the figure. The safe yield figure of 5 mgd is based on the ability of the reservoir to meet de- mand in a dry year and the figure shows graphically the inadequacy of the OWASA supply under those conditions. OWASA is Pursuing the de- velopment of the reservoir on Cane Creek in Bingham Township just north of N. C. 54 which will boost its dependable supply by 10 mgd. Town of il1sbbróugh- The Town of Hillsborough has a municipally awned water system. The service area includes all of the corporate city limits with addition- al service to portions of Orange County. The system currently serves 6,000 persons through 2,300 metered connections. Water consumption within the Hillsborough water service area averages about 1.1 mgd. Hillsborough gets its water from Lake Ben Johnson, an impoundment on the Eno River at Hillsborough. Lake Ben Johnson has a current safe yield of approximately 1.25 mgd. Its available supply is affected by withdrawals upstream at Corporation Lake and will be reduced in future 16