FERRIDAY – Concordia Waterworks customers, who have been facing a water shortage since mid-summer, could be getting relief soon. Concordia Waterworks District No. 2’s new water plant should be serving customers in about two weeks, project engineer Bryant Hammett said Wednesday.

The project is more than four months behind schedule. Meanwhile, the district’s 8,000-plus customers are still facing a water shortage due to three years of drought — and the system’s aging wells are running dry.

First, the delivery of pipes was delayed. The drilling of four wells took two months longer than expected. Then once a transmission line was set up, leaky gaskets were found that were thought to be the fault of the manufacturer. Crews have worked since mid-summer to find and fix such leaks.

Now plant operators are working to adjust the levels of chemicals to produce the best water for the lowest price. That is also being done to lengthen the amount of time water can be produced without the plant’s filters having to be backwashed, Hammett said.

&uot;But the transmission line passed the (leak) test Monday, and we sent samples to the Health Department Tuesday to check for bacteria. We hope to get those back in a couple of days,&uot;&160;Hammett said.

In June 1999, the Concordia Parish Police Jury approved the issuance of $2,557,000 in bonds for the project, which included the drilling of four wells and construction of a treatment plant near Lake St. John.

A $1,294,000 grant and $482,200 loan the district received in April 1998 are covering the remainder of the cost.

Once the plant is up and running, officials of Concordia Waterworks, the Town of Ferriday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Hammett’s office should meet to discuss alternative water sources for Ferriday.

Edgar Jones, president of Concordia Waterworks’ board, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Using Concordia Waterworks’ transmission lines to transport water from the Lake St. John area to Ferriday is an idea local officials have mulled over for at least one year now as a possible solution to Ferriday’s water troubles.

&uot;I’d be happy to meet with them, because I&160;think … updating the plant we have now would be like throwing good money after bad,&uot; said Ferriday Mayor Glen McGlothin. &uot;But until now, Concordia Waterworks has had its own problems to deal with.

&uot;So let’s wait to see that their plant is up and running before we discuss anything further&uot; regarding the town’s water options, he added.

Ever since 1988, when the town’s water plant at Old River was brought online, the town’s water has often been brown and smelly due to manganese, particularly when the river is low. And the town was under a boil water notice for 124 days last year, from August to December. At the start of the notice, the plant shut down for two and a half days, leaving the town’s 1,400-plus water customers reliant on National Guard trucks for water.

One solution for getting better water for the town would be to create sediment ponds to pre-treat the water before it got to the plant, among other improvements, according to Hammett. Last year, the town got more than $1.1 million in federal money for that purpose.

Hammett and McGlothin have said they see one other feasible option — the town drilling two wells near Lake St. John and paying Concordia Waterworks to use the district’s transmission line to transport the water to the town’s water lines.

In July 1999 the Department of Agriculture announced that it would make $1,137,000 available to the town to create treatment ponds and make other improvements at the water plant. That included a $775,000 grant and $362,000 loan.

That money is still available, and USDA representatives have said they are open to using the money to drill wells at Lake St. John if that is feasible.

&uot;We don’t have a specific time by which (the town) has to spend that money. We don’t want to rush the town into the wrong decision,&uot; said Michael Taylor, rural development coordinator for the USDA Rural Development agency.

&uot;But we’ll be down there just as soon as they’re ready to sit down and discuss the options that are available.&uot;