Utility set to service Maumelle residents

Taps to open by Feb. 1, CAW says

Maumelle residents will have water from Central Arkansas Water flowing from their taps by Feb. 1, the utility says.

That’s several months ahead of the schedule set when CAW acquired the Maumelle water system in a 2016 merger.

According to a December letter sent to Maumelle’s 10,500 water customers, CAW is completing final testing on the large transmission pipe that connects Maumelle to CAW’s distribution system.

The town has been broken into five zones, which will be turned on one at a time over the course of this month. The transition dates are tentatively set for Tuesday, Jan. 11, Jan. 17, Jan. 23 and Jan. 29. All Maumelle residents will receive CAW water by February, the utility said.

Maumelle customers will transition to CAW rates Feb. 1.

Maumelle has operated its own city utility with well water since its incorporation 33 years ago.

“We completed pressure testing in mid-December, and immediately began disinfection of the 30-inch transmission main,” CAW

spokesman Douglas Shackelford said. “Once disinfection was completed, we began sampling water from the main, and so far, all samples have passed. However, there still several samples to be taken. Once all samples pass, we will begin the process of transitioning areas of Maumelle over to CAW in phases.”

The construction and engineering of the 5.5-mile-long pipe was contracted at a cost of $6.5 million.

“Once that transition process is complete, we will begin the work of shutting down the Maumelle wells and water treatment plant,” Shackelford said.

January is the first month Maumelle customers won’t see a debt surcharge they have been paying on their bills. The surcharge, which was $4.26 for residential customers, was to pay back the cost of the Maumelle merger, including paying off the Maumelle’s water utility’s debt and making infrastructure upgrades.

All short-term costs have been recovered, thus the charge is being removed.

CAW will replace all of Maumelle’s residential customers’ water meters in April and May. Commercial water customers in Maumelle will have their meters replaced in February.

The Maumelle meters measure water in gallons. CAW measures water usage in hundred cubic feet, which is also what the utility’s rates are based on.