Why drink tap water?

South Blount Utility takes pride in delivering safe, reliable, and affordable water to our more than 17,000 customers. Our Certified Operators perform over 1,800 lab tests on the water per year in our onsite certified lab to ensure the quality of the water we deliver to our customers. Consumer Confidence Reports, which are provided annually, are also available on our website. These reports show the quality of drinking water supplied by South Blount. In addition, our most recent TDEC Sanitary Survey yielded a perfect score of 100%.

Have you considered the cost of bottled water?

The average cost of a 24 pack of generic store brand bottled water in 16.9 fluid ounce bottles from 6 different local retailers is $3.85. South Blount County Utility District’s water rate is $5.96 per 1,000 gallons of water, so it would take roughly 645 gallons of tap water to cost the same as one 24 pack of bottled water. 645 gallons of water is equivalent to 82,560 fluid ounces. You would have to buy nearly 204 of the 24 packs of water to get 645 gallons of bottled water. That is 4,896 bottles of water which would cost approximately $92.40. Aside from the financial cost of purchasing this many bottles of water, think of the environmental cost. It can take one plastic water bottle around 450 years to decompose.

#thinkbeforeyoudrink #tapiswhereitsat

April is National Safe Digging Month, a great reminder to always contact 811 before you dig! No matter how small your next home digging project is, remember to keep yourself and your community safe by contacting 811 to have the approximate location of buried utilities marked with paint or flags before breaking ground. Learn more at 811beforeyoudig.com. 

GET THE LEAD OUT

There is nothing more important to South Blount Utility than providing our customers with safe, reliable, affordable water.

As part of this mission, we are currently taking water samples at each Blount County School to ensure the quality of water delivered to the students in our area. This testing exceeds the latest EPA requirement of 20% of elementary schools and is being done on an annual basis. The results are delivered to the county school system.

We will also be collecting our required samples from 30 customers/lead sites between June and September this year. The customers will be contacted in advance regarding these samples.



More information about testing options and other steps you can take to reduce lead exposure is available at our website, www.southblountutility.org. You can also get this information by calling our Customer Service department (865) 982-3560.

Help us eliminate this threat to your drinking water. Together, let’s get the lead out.

We are currently in the process of updating our Utility Management System to CUSI. We are expecting to begin transitioning to CUSI in April - May 2024. Bank draft customers will not need to update their account with us as this information will convert to the new system. Customers who have enrolled in auto pay online will need to enroll on the new online system after the transition. Customers will also be getting a new South Blount Account number. Customers who pay through their bank's bill pay system will need to be sure to update their South Blount account number once the transition has occurred. Be on the lookout for communications regarding the account number change within the next couple months. Stay tuned for more updates on this transition as we work diligently to make the transition as seamless as possible.

Project Description: The Louisville Transmission water main is perhaps one of the larger water main projects in the history of SBCUD. This 35,000 linear feet project replaces assets that are up to 60 years old and will provide the needed system hydraulics for the future of the county. Phase I of this project will begin behind Newell on William Blount Drive. It will follow Big Springs Road to Old Glory and end at the intersection of W Hunt Road and Proffitt Springs. This project is solely funded with SBCUD operating reserves.

Project Status: Engineering is 100% complete. This project is expected to bid in late FY24 or FY25. SBCUD will be updating customers as this project progresses.

Project Description: The scope of the water line improvement on Whites Mill Road and Tuckaleechee Pike includes replacement of 14,800 linear feet of 6-inch water lines with 12-inch water lines that improve fire flows, pressures, and overall system hydraulics. This project starts at the end of Blockhouse Phase III (Chilhowee View Road and Whites Mill Road) and ends at Autumn Drive on Hwy 321.

Project Status: Easement procurement is 100% complete and is expected to bid in March - April 2024.

Previous Status: This project is funded with American Rescue Plan Act funding by Blount County.

Project Location: South Blount County Utility District's (SBCUD) Water Treatment Plant.

Project Description: SBCUD has partnered with W.K. Dickson to engineer an additional 1 million gallon clear well water tank for the SBCUD Water Treatment Plant. This additional clear well will provide SBCUD's water plant the needed redundancy for the future growth of Blount County. This project will be solely funded with SBCUD operating reserves.

Project Status: Southern Constructors was awarded the bid for this project in September 2023, with construction expected to begin in April 2024.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Directions:

Carefully pour the hot water into the jar and close the lid as soon as you can. You will immediately see a vapor cloud form in the jar (the evaporation process). As the vapor reaches the top of the jar, you will begin to see water droplets form on the top of the jar (the condensation process). As the droplets continue to form on the top of the jar, they will get too “heavy” and begin to fall back into the water in the bottom of the jar (the precipitation process).

Explanation

The whole project couldn't be simpler. It is the perfect straightforward and visual illustration of how the process works so that kids can see and hopefully understand the process that is so very vital to our existence.

Continued learning and reinforcement are easy. Any time we see the sun, clouds, rain or snow, ask your students questions. What is that process we see happening around us right now? Which part of the water cycle are we seeing? What happens next in the cycle?

https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/water-cycle-lesson/