Access to safe water a problem for many

Funding is an obstacle to waterlines

A map showing the Frazier Pike/Harper Road waterline extension.
A map showing the Frazier Pike/Harper Road waterline extension.

Every couple of months for the past 10 years, Lillard Brockette and his wife, Iris, have loaded up his pickup with 80 empty 1-gallon bottles to drive an hour west to Hot Springs to fill up on spring water straight from the source.

"We have a well, but the water isn't fit to drink," Lillard Brockette said.

Like many of their neighbors off Frazier Pike in southeast Pulaski County, the Brockettes have well water that tests too high for iron and perhaps E. coli, as well.

Lillard Brockette, 62, said he thinks his water might be safe for drinking, but the taste of rust is enough to prompt the trips to Hot Springs.

The Brockettes' long-term solution? Connect to the Central Arkansas Water system.

"I can't wait," Lillard Brockette said. "We're probably the last little community in Pulaski County that doesn't have water."

The Brockettes are among an estimated 200,000 Arkansans without access to a water utility, mostly in rural areas.

In Pulaski County, about 6,000 people don't use a water utility -- and not always for a lack of trying. The funding needed to hook up to a utility line is often an obstacle across the state.

In southeast Pulaski County, grant and loan money means that about 68 households -- the Brockettes' included -- will be able to connect to the Central Arkansas Water system, a $1 million project that's 2½ years in the works.

But not everyone in the area is sold on the project.

Vickie Minick, 60, said many of the homeowners will carry a hefty debt on the group loan to build the waterline.

For the 17 years after the new waterline's completion, the 68 households will have to pay $28.15 per month for the loan on top of their monthly water bill, should they all choose to connect to the waterline, according to the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission.

A grant for low-to-moderate-income homeowners covers only $775,000 toward the project, and the Natural Resources Commission loan is $250,000. Any variation in the cost for a contractor to build the waterline would be covered by the grant.

Minick said her well has had clean, drinkable water during the 44 years she has lived out on Harper Road. She's concerned that people in the area think they'll be getting free water.

"I am not opposed," Minick said. "I want information."

Well contamination

The 4.5-mile-long project along Frazier Pike and Harper Road is currently in its bidding phase, but Frazier Pike Public Facilities Board Chairman Rickey Thomas said he anticipates the line to be up and running in the next year.

Thomas, a resident of the area, said the quality of water in the area's wells was getting worse, prompting the bid for a utility waterline.

In a 17-month period from 2013 to 2014, 865 wells statewide tested positive for contamination out of 3,880 tests submitted to the Arkansas Department of Health, a rate of 22 percent.

Thomas submitted 24 samples across the low-lying Frazier Pike area near the Arkansas River for a total of 48 tests, 14 of which turned up positive for contamination.

"It was pretty much a health hazard," said Shay Coleman-Jones, commission project administrator. She said some septic tanks were pumping incorrectly, which can cause leaks and contamination of wells.

When water is submitted to the Health Department, it tests each sample for E. coli and another for total coliform bacteria separately, meaning 1,940 samples were provided to the state in that 17-month span. Many were samples from the same well, submitted multiple times.

The department tests voluntarily submitted well water samples at a cost of $17 per sample. The state is charged with testing only wells that are commercial, not private ones.

Wells can be treated to become clean again, a route that some private well users take after tests come out positive, said Randy Polk, an engineer in the commission's Water Resources Development Division. But for some, hooking up to a utility is a better option.

Funding takes time

Water and wastewater projects across the state can take several phases and grants to complete.

A project to hook up rural Washington County with utility waterlines is finishing up this year after nearly 20 years, according to an official at the Northwest Arkansas Planning and Development District.

"It does take a while to get funding in place," Savoy said.

In southeast Pulaski County, the $775,000 grant and $250,000 loan were obtained from the commission in 2013.

The Frazier Pike project is one of a handful of requests receiving funds across Arkansas in a federal grant system where demand is higher than supply, and some water and wastewater projects can spend years waiting for funding. Some never get it.

"There are projects that have been out there for years and have never been funded," said Scott Savoy, community and economic development program manager for the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. "Sometimes it's because the dollars don't work out."

It's often not cost-efficient to add just a few people onto a utility. Some project backers can go on to seek expensive loans, and other attempts fade out.

The state funds water and wastewater projects largely through the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, which receives money each year from U.S. Housing and Urban Development for Community Development Block Grants.

Mark Bennett, chief of water development for the commission, described the applications as constant and the funding levels as diminishing.

The state receives about $22 million to $24 million worth of project requests each year but can afford to fund only about a third of them, Bennett said.

The commission used to receive at least $7 million in grant funds each year for water and wastewater projects but has seen less than that for the past three years.

"I do have some concerns that we're not able to meet these needs," he said. "I still think this is a good program. ... We could all use a little more money, especially this program."

The agency decides what to fund based on the number of people who would be affected, the cost of the project per person affected, the feasibility of the project and whether it's a rehabilitation project. The commission doesn't use the grants to fund rehabilitation projects.

In unincorporated regions, residents often rely on private wells as their only source of water. But statewide, many unincorporated regions apply for grant money to hook their areas up to utility waterlines because of the unreliability of wells and their risk for contamination. Sometimes, a well can dry up, too.

Neighbor against neighbor

In addition to creating a more reliable water source, Thomas said, a utility waterline could improve fire protection in the area by adding capacity for hydrants that could eventually lower the area fire station's insurance ratings.

But some residents may choose not to hook up to utility waterlines because they don't want to pay a monthly water bill.

"There's just a lot of people out here who don't want it," Minick said. "It's turned neighbor against neighbor."

Others are relieved to know they'll finally get services.

"I just feel like it's unfair that people in more rural areas than we are are allowed to have fresh, clean water run in their homes," said Debbie Wise. "We're within 5 miles of the city limits, and we're still living primitively on the well."

Wise has lived on Harper Road for about 25 years, during which her water has had too much iron in it for her to drink or clean her clothes without turning them orange.

She described the taste as heavy and metallic, like an iron supplement dissolved in a glass of water.

Wise spends about $40 each week on bottles of water and a water jug.

Residents can choose whether to connect to the new waterline, but the cost of the debt payment would rise per customer for every person who opts out of connecting to the line, Minick said.

"If it wasn't for the grant, there's no way they could ever afford the water," Thomas said, referring to the residents.

"I'll probably be the first one to gripe about having to pay for water, but in today's society, your water needs to take precedence," Thomas said. The grant helps, too, he said.

For the Brockettes, the cost of paying a monthly water bill could be less expensive than what they do now, Lillard Brockette said.

They pay $12 per week now for a water cooler, in addition to hauling the bottles. They still use well water to bathe and wash their clothes, but they have to treat the water beforehand so it doesn't discolor everything.

Lillard Brockette sees the waterline project as a reliable supply of good water, which he hasn't had since he moved to his Harper Road home 30 years ago.

"The cost is worth it," Lillard Brockette said.

Metro on 08/25/2014

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