KOSSUTH – Improved water quality is on the horizon for customers of Kossuth Water Association, whose aging system has been plagued with breakdowns and water quality problems.

Officials plan to dig two new wells, build a new water storage tower and install new water lines in the Kossuth area, said association President Danny “Shorty” Mincy.

The projects will be funded with loans and grants from USDA Rural Development totaling about $4 million.

“Some of those lines have been in place since the system was first built,” which was around 1970, Mincy said. “We’ve got everything approved and are just getting the final papers processed. We’re hoping to put in test wells within a month.”

As recently as late February the association issued a water shortage and water quality notice to its customers after a pump failed on the system near Corinth’s airport.

During the several days required for emergency bids on a pump replacement, the Pine Mountain and Bethlehem systems, along with Corinth Gas & Water, provided customers with water.

“Kossuth is actually made up of several different water systems, and both Pine Mountain and Bethlehem are at high elevations, compared to Kossuth, which is in a low area,” said system engineer Calvin Abernathy of Cook Coggin Engineers.

The aquifer from which the Kossuth area well currently draws its water is one it will abandon with the two new wells, he said, because the water being drawn from that source now must be heavily treated.

Once construction begins, the entire project may take about two years, Abernathy said.

“We’re looking at six or seven different construction contracts – well contracts, pipeline contracts, elevated storage contracts – to save them money and keep the local contractors working, and we expect to be able to do some of the work concurrently,” Abernathy said.