City surveys water lines in hope to avoid expansion
By Jim Epperson

City officials are hoping to avoid an estimated $9 million expansion of the Kilgore's wastewater treatment plant by surveying the main sewer line for leaks, city administrators said.

David Hackley said the water treatment plant has reached 75 percent of its capacity. State law requires that when a plant reaches 75 percent of its capacity the city must plan an expansion of the treatment plant or determine if there are ways to reduce its capacity.

"We are treating more water than we are producing," Hackley said.

Hackley said the cause for the excess water the city treats could be from rain runoff or because the Rabbit Creek trunk line has leaks. In the mid 1980s, the line was put in, and since then the city has had problems with it, he said.

"If we double the capacity of the plant, we are looking at $9 million," Hackley said.

The city is going to try to save money by using city employees to determine if there are leaks with a new television monitoring device that can see leaks inside the sewer, Howell said.

Kilgore City Manager Jeff Howell said the Rabbit Creek trunk line is the main sewer line that connects the smaller lines to the wastewater treatment plant.

"If we don't fix the problem, then we are going to have to expand the plant."

Hackley said not only is the city trying to avoid an expensive project, but they would like to reduce costs from energy and chemicals used to treat excess water.

"It's less expensive to try to fix the plant than to try to expand the plant,"