With $648K From The State, Century To Begin $1.3 Million Water Well Replacement - NorthEscambia.com

With $648K From The State, Century To Begin $1.3 Million Water Well Replacement : NorthEscambia.com

With $648K From The State, Century To Begin $1.3 Million Water Well Replacement

June 22, 2023

The Town of Century does not yet know where half the money will come from as they move forward to replace a water well that exclusively serves Century Correctional Institution.

Florida’s budget, signed last week by Gov. Ron DeSantis, included $628,500 to replace the failed “Well No. 3″, half of the $1.297 million that was requested.

Town council members agreed this week that the well must be replaced, and they will look at the funding source for the balance — possibly American Rescue Plan funds, Local Options Sales Tax or the water fund.

The council voted to approve the first expenditure of $143,400 to Municipal Engineering Services for project management, design and permitting.

After multiple problems, the well suffered a catastrophic failure during the summer of 2022 and no longer provided water to the prison for staff and inmates. A shaft shattered into a dozen or more pieces and fell to the bottom of the well.

Water service was restored through a permanent interconnect from Central Water Works to the Century water system that was completed in late May 2020 to provide a dependable water supply to the prison. The interconnect was installed after the town’s water well that was the sole water supply for the prison suffered a repairable failure in early May 2020. That forced the town to use two-inch fire hoses from a Central Water Works fire hydrant on the south side of Tedder Road to the prison on the north side of the road until a permanent solution was in place and the well was repaired.

A temporary pump provides some water, but it must be supplemented by water from the two wells that supply the town’s citizens or from the Center Water Works interconnect. “Operation of these additional supplies is manually controlled and subject to interruptions,” according to Rep. Michelle Salzman’s funding request.

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