The town of Zebulon is now practicing what it preached during the 2007 drought.
The town received permits from the city of Raleigh late last month to begin using a water reuse system at the Zebulon Municipal Complex.
The reuse system will allow the town to use recycled water for irrigation and other non-drinking uses.
The town already uses a similar system at Five County Stadium.
Grants from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the Golden Leaf Foundaton paid for the extension of 17,000 feet of water lines from the stadium area through the town’s industrial park and on to the municipal complex.
The new system will allow the town and the city of Raleigh — which controls Zebulon’s water system — to conserve drinking water supplies.
During the 2007 drought, towns liminated the use of municipal water supplies for jobs such as irrigation.
By using a source of water that can not be used for drinking, the town will be able to continue irrigating its property even in times of drought.
Zebulon Mayor Bob Matheny said the reuse system will also allow the town more room to grow.
“While the system has been used for some time in the Five County Stadium area, bringing it through our industrial park and into the heart of town allows us to expand the use of this asset and have our potable water capacity saved for the growth of our community,” Matheny said.
The next step in the project is to connect GlaxoSmithKline to the system.
Raleigh’s city council approved an agreement last month that will allow the extension of the water lines to that facility beginning this fall.
Raleigh public utility officials plan to expand the water reuse system to several communities throughout the region. The city serves as the water supplier to six Wake County towns, including Zebulon, Wendell and Knightdale. Wake Forest, Rolesville and Garner are also Raleigh water customers.
The use of reclaimed water is allowed by the state for a small number of narrowly defined uses, including dust control, vehicle washing at constrution sites and automatic car washes, sewer line flushing and in decorative ponds that don’t drain into surface waters.
By Johnny Whitfield
