WILKINSON COUNTY, Ga. — It's not every day folks in Wilkinson County get excited for sewage, but this construction on the county's first public system is bringing both of Georgia's U.S. senators to town.
Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock came to town Monday for the groundbreaking of a $6 million project.
Bruce Pitts is the owner of two businesses in Wilkinson County. He says this new sewer system will mean less maintenance.
"The city would maintain it. That's good for my business, keeping the expense off of me, ill be better for my business to keep up with the current market," Pitts said.
Pitts says they run off a very old septic system. One of the biggest problems is leaks.
"No one wants to smell anyone else's waste, and that happens around this county, and I think we need sewer systems in the whole county," Pitts said.
Senator Jon Ossoff says, "For too long, the residents of Wilkinson County have been relying upon septic systems that are at risk of flooding and overflowing putting sewage into folks' yards,"Ossoff said.
Pitts has owned Pitts Bookkeeping and Tax Service for 35 years. He says he's had two septic-tank leaks, one costing $500, and the other, $250.
"It never got into the thousands of dollars, but it could. It could mean replacing a whole septic system, which is very expensive right now," he said.
Since the septic system is old, they weren't built to work with the current well system.
"Built blocked types situations. They were built where people might have put plastic type of situations. A lot of times, those situations are not good for the communities that people live in," Pitts said.
The county is looking to the future.
"Sometimes we have to take on the costs to benefit the future and that's our children, making sure they have the best of the best," Pitts said.
The county says this first phase of their sewer system should be complete within two years. It will cover all of McIntyre and Wilkinson County High School.