BATON ROUGE, La. (PRWEB) January 01, 2021
Magnolia Water Utility Operating Company (magnoliawateruoc.com), a division of Central States Water Resources (CSWR), today announced it has acquired the assets of Guste Island Utility Company in a sale approved by the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC).
Guste Island’s facilities serve more than 1,200 residences and commercial customers in St. Tammany Parish. Guste Island has had a history of operational issues, most related to sediment in the drinking water. While projects were completed within the past year attempting to remedy these issues, including well screen repairs, removal of sediment from the hydropneumatic tank and water lines, and installation of automatic flushing devices, these sediment issues have persisted.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring our expertise, commitment and the necessary capital to provide safe and reliable water resources to the people of Guste Island,” said Josiah Cox, founder and president of Magnolia Water. “We pride ourselves on our ability to improve the quality of water – and we look forward to the opportunity of serving the Guste Island communities.”
Magnolia Water is planning several additional improvements to enhance service to its Guste Island customers. Magnolia will drill a new well to replace or use in conjunction with the existing well. Drilling a test water well site will begin as soon as possible in 2021. Until a permanent new well can be drilled, Magnolia will flush the well each day and install additional automatic flushing devices to eliminate debris build up and keep the water system fresh. Magnolia Water will also investigate the installation of a variable frequency drive on the existing well to reduce sediment production on startup. After these devices are installed, if necessary, Magnolia Water will complete a comprehensive system flushing to clear water mains of existing sediment. In order to help remediate years of sediment build up in residential water lines, Magnolia will also likely recommend a home flushing program with no volumetric usage charge to customers.
In July, Magnolia Water announced the acquisition of 14 other water and wastewater systems in parishes across Louisiana. The company now serves more than 82,000 Louisiana residents.
Magnolia Water will continue to charge the current service rates to customers until any required rate adjustment is reviewed and approved by the LPSC. Magnolia is committed to providing clean, safe and reliable water resources to the communities it serves by investing in infrastructure that meets or exceeds stringent state and federal safety standards thus protecting the aquifers, lakes, rivers and streams that are essential to south Louisiana.
ABOUT CENTRAL STATES WATER RESOURCES
Central States Water Resources is transforming how water utilities work by using technology and innovation to bring safe, reliable and environmentally responsible water resources to every community in the U.S. Learn more about us at http://www.centralstateswaterresources.com and http://www.magnoliawateruoc.com.