“Residents will not need to do anything and should not notice any cessation of water aside from a possible, temporary drop in water pressure,” Brunka said.”We expect to have a complete continuity of service.”
Lebanon will retain control of all billing services, Brunka said.
City council voted to implement a 40-year contract to join with GCWW in 2008 after several years of studying the city’s own well-fields and finding the water supply of poorer quality and potentially insufficient quantities.
The well-field’s location near Interstate 71 on the southern edge of town put the water supply in danger of being contaminated if for instance a tanker truck were to overturn and spill its contents into the field. GCWW provides additional safeguards and has a much greater water supply to make the stock more secure said Brunka.
The water from the GCWW will also be much softer, Brunka said. Whereas current city water averages 500 milligrams of calcium per liter — a level deemed exceptionally hard — the GCWW water will contain only 150 milligrams of calcium per liter. The GCWW also has fluoride added to it, an advantage the city’s water supply lacks.
“We’ve told residents they will need to gauge the preference for water softness and adjust their water softeners to meet that preference,” Brunka said.
The city studied its water system for several years prior to agreeing to the merger. Between 2003 and 2005 it made eight attempts to create additional water wells, but only one was successful.
During the four years since the contract was signed, the city has spent $2.84 million to improve its own water delivery systems in preparation for the transfer, including installing larger water mains on Deerfield and Glosser roads and East Street.
GCWW also constructed a $3.5 million pump station near the intersection of Turtlecreek Road and Kingsview Drive. It is from this point that the city’s water mains will be connected to GCWW’s mains coming from Mason and points south of town.
Greater Cincinnati Water Works provides about 136 million gallons of water a day through 3,000 miles of water mains to most of Hamilton County and parts of Butler and Warren Counties in Ohio, and to Boone County in Kentucky, according to the company’s website.
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