Century Needs $500K To Replace Prison Water Well; Second Well Goes Online For First Time In Two Years

September 14, 2022

There’s a bit of good news, and a bit of bad news, for the Town of Century’s water department.

The Good News

For the first time in about two years, water is flowing again from the town’s “Well No. 2″ on Academy Street. The twell had been out of service for over a year before being placed back in service in August 2020 only to fail again.

After repairs funded by a $107,000 legislative appropriation, the well is back only after good bacteriological sampling.

Well No. 2 was constructed in 1983. It has a pumping capacity of 500 gallons per minute and an elevated tank (pictured above) with a half million gallon capacity.

Until this week, the entire town, minus the prison, had been serviced by just one well on Blackmon Street that was constructed in 1963.

The Bad (And Expensive) News

For the past month, the Town of Century’s water system has relied on an interconnection to Central Water Works to supply water to Century Correctional Institution as Century looks at alternative solutions — and how to get about a half million dollars for a new well.

The town has ordered a submersible pump and sand filter for nearly $50,000 as a temporary fix that an engineer says might last a couple of months. It will take around three weeks for the pump to arrive because the sand filter must be custom-built for the well.

The temporary submersible pump will be eligible for reimbursement from a $468,453 legislative appropriation for water well upgrades.

Since July 13, water has flowed through a permanent interconnect from Central Water Works to the Century water system that was completed in late May 2020 to provide a dependable water supply to the prison. The interconnect was installed after the town’s water well that was the sole water supply for the prison suffered a repairable failure in early May 2020.

Town engineer Dale Long told the town council that a new well, if drilled next to the current pump house and water tower by the prison, will cost somewhere around $500,000 and take up to a year to be completed once the money is in hand.

Mayor Ben Boutwell said the town may seek a legislative appropriation for the well, or a USDA Rural Development loan.

The two other wells on Century’s water system can’t directly supply water to the prison due to elevation, but a booster pump near the fire department can be used.

Comments

13 Responses to “Century Needs $500K To Replace Prison Water Well; Second Well Goes Online For First Time In Two Years”

  1. jerry on September 16th, 2022 9:52 am

    Sounds like Jacksion, Miss and Century has not even had a flood.

  2. BRING IT ON on September 15th, 2022 11:56 pm

    Bring back the chain gang and have the inmates tote it from the creek.

  3. Wayne on September 15th, 2022 8:01 pm

    Knowing Century side stepping everything…when was the last mechanical integrity test..metallurgical test done..if ever.
    Now watch what happens.

  4. JustMe on September 15th, 2022 1:13 am

    Tommy, go look at century’s annual consumer confidence report. That should answer your question. Btw anyone know where I can buy a good home filter?

  5. Tommy on September 14th, 2022 8:09 pm

    How safe is the water from this tank they just put back in service.

  6. Johnnysayswhat on September 14th, 2022 6:32 pm

    You guuuys, administrating is haaard. ) :

  7. K on September 14th, 2022 6:12 pm

    Would have figured $3.25 million awarded to Century for infrastructure would have been better spent on infrastructure such as this well. Instead it went to the community centers.

  8. Willis on September 14th, 2022 3:46 pm

    Look how easy that was with a little motivation.

  9. Susie on September 14th, 2022 2:30 pm

    There are several State Depts that provide grants for these type of things- good news. The City just needs to seek them out and apply for them. I don’t know if the last part is good news or bad news. Seems to me the City of Century…or whatever it is now is not very smart with their fund usage. Question is, do they even know where to start?

  10. RaD on September 14th, 2022 2:27 pm

    William, is there any idea how much profit the city should be making off the Prison contract each year?

  11. retired on September 14th, 2022 9:09 am

    That extra money they had in the budget should cover the cost, hahahahahaha.

    Have to cancel some loans.

  12. tg on September 14th, 2022 8:39 am

    The good news is new well is functioning bad news is Century is still an incorporated city.

  13. Chris on September 14th, 2022 8:22 am

    At least their lobby floor looks good

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News