The Henry County Water Authority (HCWA) was founded in 1961 by an Act of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, to “acquire, construct, and thereafter operate and maintain projects embracing sources of water supply and the distribution and sale of water and related facilities.” The Act goes on to list the other duties of the Authority, including that to establish a sewer system
The Water System
The HCWA has developed five reservoirs, covering a combined total of 3, 138 acres of water surface area, and holding approximately 18 billion gallons of water. The reservoirs are at the south end of the County, and water is pumped significant distances across Henry County’s 331 square miles.
The Authority operates two water treatment plants, with a total permitted capacity to produce 37 million gallons per day (MGD). Over 1, 400 miles of water mains have been constructed, making service available to most of the county by serving over 55, 000 customer water connections. Additionally, 29.5 million gallons of potable water can be stored in 9 elevated tanks, four ground water storage tanks, plus the clear wells at the two water plants.
The Sewer System
The HCWA sewer system, while serving some of the higher density areas in the county, is not as extensive as the HCWA water system. The HCWA currently serves over 20, 000 customers with sewer connections and approximately 455 miles of sewer mains, 31 sewerage lift stations, and three waste water treatment plants permitted to treat 12.75 MGD.
Advanced Methods in Customer Service
All water meters are read on a monthly basis utilizing a radio read system. That is, an electronic device on each meter sends a signal identifying the meter and the current reading to the device in the HCWA vehicle as it drives past the customer connection. Those readings are uploaded electronically into our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, and bills are generated based on the consumption. Thus, readings can be gathered more quickly, and actual readings – not estimates – are used for the bills, so the possibility of manual error is greatly reduced, if not eliminated. All water customers have water meters and are billed based on their consumption. Sewage fees, for customers who have sewage service, are based on water consumption.
The HCWA Service Area
The service area for the HCWA is primarily unincorporated Henry County. A few customers in neighboring counties are also served, where subdivisions or drainage basins cross county lines. There are four municipalities within Henry County: Stockbridge, McDonough, Hampton, and Locust Grove. Each municipality operates its own water and sewerage system. From time to time, these municipalities purchase various quantities of finished water from HCWA.
