South Jacksonville officials still feel confident that their Oxville water plant will return to operations sometime this month.
The village has been consistently on the City of Jacksonville’s water system since November 2021.
Village Utility Superintendent Brian English says the over million dollar overhaul that’s occurred over the last 3+ years may soon be wrapped up: “I met with All Service [Contracting Corporation]. They are conditioning our plant right now. I have sent some tests to the EPA. Everything has passed. We’ve got to get the tanks sampled right now to get them tested. Other than that, we should be ready to go here in the next 3-4 weeks, I would believe.”
Village President Dick Samples says he’s cautiously optimistic that the water plant’s timetable is on track: “Hopefully. Our progress is working toward getting this back online, but I want to have a product that is as good as what we offer now through the City of Jacksonville’s water.”
English told the Village Board of Trustees on Thursday that the testing of media will come next and then more EPA testing before everything comes back on. He says that the water softener plant is also ready to go, and he hopes to turn the softener and the village’s water on at the same time when everything is given the green light to return to regular operations.
He says once it’s complete, he’ll be able to turn more attention on completing repairs and/or replacements to the village’s fire hydrants and the lead water line survey that both need completed by September.