Water and Sewer Welcome

The City of Gray Water and Sewer Department provides water and sewer, to a limited extent, to residents of the City and in areas of unincorporated Jones County and has a growing customer base of more than 3,300.

The Water and Sewer Department is a division of the City government and reports to the Mayor and Council. The department is an enterprise fund, which means it receives no money from property taxes and must rely on revenues from water and sewer sales to operate.

The water system is comprised of seven (7) wells that produce an average of 475,000 gallons of drinking water per day. The system has an average demand of 400,000 gallons per day in the winter and an average of 600,000 gallons per day in the summer. Water is purchased from the Jones County Water System during peak demand periods. The City has four (4) elevated storage tanks (750,000 gallons, 200,000 gallons, 150,000 gallons and 65,000 gallons) and a 200,000 gallons clear well. The distribution system consist of 43.30 miles of pipelines ranging in size from two (2) inches to twelve (12) inches in diameter. The majority of the distribution system is comprised of PVC and has been in service for twenty (20) years or less.

The City of Gray’s Wolf Creek WPCP treats an average of 225,000 gallons per day of wastewater and has a maximum capacity of 400,000 gallons per day. The current facility has approximately 115,000 gallons of capacity to allocate for future growth. The collection system consist of six (6) liftstations and 24.25 miles of sewer main ranging from PVC, ductile iron and terra cotta mains.

The availability of water and sewer services will play a significant role in the future of the City of Gray. In order to prepare for the expected growth, the City is making a coordinated and comprehensive effort to address long term water and sewer needs. The City has retained the services of a geologist to locate additional wells for the short term and has partnered with the Jones County Board of Commissioners to run a water line to the Town Creek Reservoir to meet the City’s future water needs. The City is embarking on an aggressive program to upgrade its distribution system and fire protection. The City is finalizing its Watershed Assessment in preparation for the expansion of the Wolf Creek WPCP to a 1,200,000 gallon per day facility. A Watershed Assessment is now required by the Environmental Protection Division for a new or expanded NPDES Permit for wastewater discharges. The Watershed Assessment is both an assessment and a plan. Data on the watershed will be collected to learn about the relationships between water quality and activities and land use within the watershed. This knowledge will be used to come up with long-term and short-term plans to assure that water quality standards are met for all conditions.