FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                         June 22, 2001

BUSINESSES, RESIDENTS, TOWN SAVE WATER, PROTECT ENVIRONMENT WITH NEW "FIRST IN STATE" RECLAIMED WATER SYSTEM

CARY, NC – At today’s 9:30 AM ribbon cutting, the Town of Cary officially became the first municipality in North Carolina to begin diverting treated wastewater from the Neuse River Basin and, instead, piping it directly to hundreds of water customers for irrigation and cooling uses. Cary’s Reclaimed Water Project is designed to reduce the amount of wastewater going into streams and rivers while also reducing the amount of non-essential use of drinking water.

On average, Cary’s northern wastewater treatment plant -- now a water reclamation facility --discharges about 6 million gallons of treated wastewater per day into Crabtree Creek, a tributary of the Neuse River; the State has set 4.28 million gallons per day of this discharge as Cary’s permitted diversion limit for the new reclaimed system. Cary is also allowed by the State to divert as much as 864,000 gallons per day in its mirror project at its south reclaimed water facility.

"The result of the Town’s reclaimed water project will be a cleaner environment and more efficient use of our drinking water supply," said Town Manager Bill Coleman. "We’re very excited about this program and look forward to the benefits it will bring to our community."

This, the first phase of the North Cary portion of Cary’s Reclaimed Water Project, serves 354 residential/multifamily customers and 20 commercial/business customers, including WorldCom, John Deere, and the North Carolina Bar Association. Customers using reclaimed water will not be subject to outdoor watering restrictions and will pay $2.74 per 1,000 gallons for this water—a savings of 1.66 per 1,000 over potable water. The project includes over 11 miles of transmission piping and nearly nine miles of distribution piping, with the total project cost-- including Phase I, II—budgeted at $10,980,000, paid for from the Town of Cary’s utility fund.

"The reclaimed water system is critical to meeting the Town Council’s water conservation goals of 20 percent reduction by 2015," said Town of Cary Utilities Director Rob Bonné.

Today’s ribbon cutting marks another major milestone in the Town’s multiphase water reuse program. In August of 1999, the Town launched the state’s first bulk reclaimed water program which makes more than 100,00 gallons per day of reclaimed water available free of charge at both its northern and southern reclamation facilities to contractors and landscape professionals at both its north and south water reclamation facilities.

First proposed in 1996, Town of Cary Public Works & Utilities staff constructed the reclaimed water system and facilities with engineering and technical support provided by Camp, Dresser, and McKee of Raleigh. The North Carolina Department of Environment & Natural Resources, Division of Water Quality, provided technical review and oversight. Also important to the project were Aneco Electrical Contracting, general contractor Crowder Construction, and JF Wilkerson Construction Company, pipeline contractor.

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