Hartselle Utilities will soon begin construction on a high-level water booster station on Bethel Road.

HU general manager Bob Sittason said the utility company had been in search of land on which to build another water tower for more than 16 years – as long as Sittason has been with the company.

“It’s been hard to find available land at the preferred elevations,” he said.

Sittason said in 2017 HU began looking at alternatives, in lieu of building a water tower, that would still accomplish the same goals.

“We will be able to build this booster station, which will allow us to have an alternative feed to our high-level water system – which, right now, is primarily being served by the Hartselle Mountain tank located on Highway 31,” he said.

HU has five water tanks, but only one, the Hartselle Mountain tank, is on the high-level system, Sittason explained.

“Our water system is broken down into a high-level district and a low-level district, and basically, Main Street separates those two,” he said. “It has more to do with the elevation of Hartselle than water pressure.

“In the past, in our high-level district, we’ve had water main breaks feeding the eastern area that caused a lack of water on that side of town – which is not a good situation, especially with two schools on that side of town,” Sittason added. “This will also allow us to take the Hartselle Mountain tank offline periodically to do any necessary repairs or maintenance.”

The new water booster station will operate in parallel with the Hartselle Mountain tank during regular operation to ensure adequate pressure is maintained throughout the area, as well as to provide redundancy within the distribution system.

Construction is expected to begin this summer, and it will take about a year to complete.