NATCHEZ — Gone are the days of losing water during blackouts for Old Country Club Road residents.

Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell said residents of Old Country Club Road will now get their water from the Adams County Water Association rather than electric-powered wells.

Adding waterlines to the area is an issue Grennell has been pushing since he entered office 12 years ago, he said.

“When I was first elected I was a little dumfounded people still using water wells,” Grennell said.

“It was just a very long process, and Adams County Water Association worked diligently to achieve it.”

Grennell said wells can often malfunction due to electrical problems and power outages, leaving residents without water possibly for days at a time.

The new waterlines will provide a more stable water source, and water quality will improve, he said.

The waterline installations are part of the last phase of a three-phase, 20-year improvement plan that started in 2001, Adams County Water Association General Manager Ken Herring said.

Water will also be delivered to new customers on Jeanette Crossing, Dogwood Drive and South Sunflower, North Sunflower, Wickcliff, Hutchins Landing, Lower Woodville, Col. John Pitchford and Carthage Point roads as part of Phase 3.

Herring said 98,000 feet of new water mains have been installed, and the amount of water produced from the water association’s seven plants will be increased to 8.4 million gallons per day with the project’s completion. Phase 3 also includes remodeling of the South and Greenfield plants and a new 400-kilowatt generator for Hobo Fork Road.

Phase 3 is being paid for with a combination of loans from U.S. Department of Agriculture, stimulus funds and in-house funds.

The water association paid $500,000 for the project, $920,000 was paid for with low interest loans from USDA and state revolving loans and $970,000 was paid for using stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Sunflower Road resident Robert Anderson said he is glad he will now be able to track how much water he is using, because he suspected he has been paying too much for water. Sunflower Road intersects with Old Country Club Road.

“I think its good that they are finally doing this,” Anderson said.

“I understand (the project has) been in the making for a while.”

Anderson said he attended a meeting at the Adams County courthouse in 2008 to discuss installing mains near his house to allow he and his neighbors to receive Adams County water.

Grennell said he met with the Adams County Water, a nonprofit association, eight or nine years ago to see if they could serve Old Country Club Road.

Water association officials directed Grennell to ask Natchez Water Association to cover the service area because a city waterline was near Old Country Club Road. When Natchez Water Association said no, Grennell said he asked Adams County Water to install water lines in the area — and they obliged.

After gaining approval from the public service commissioner, the project was able to move forward, Grennell said.

“By Thanksgiving, residents on Old Country Club Road will have (association) water,” Grennell said.

Grennell said residents in the areas with the new waterlines will now also have fire hydrants installed and hooked up to the new water lines.

“This is just going to be a great thing that is happening in that area,” Grennell said.

He said water is a necessity to which everyone should have stable access in the modern world.

“I‘m just really exited, delighted and happy about it. This has been one of my pet projects for many, many years,” Grennell said.

Adams County Water association has 5,700 active water meters.

The entire 20-year, three-phase improvement plan will cost a total of $6.79 million after Phase 3’s completion, with $3.63 million coming from the USDA and state revolving low interest loans, $$2.27 million coming from federal stimulus money, and $900,000 coming from the Adams County Water Association funds.