Resident’s of Sulphur are probably curious about all the utility line construction currently going on within the city, especially around the school and football field area.
The water line being installed on the south side of Wynnewood Street is just a small portion of a raw line project that is being funded by grants from the Chickasaw Nation and the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
The line begins on city owned property located at the south end of the Chickasaw Turnpike. The route of the line will go east to Cooper Memorial where it will t-off and run south to the Chickasaw Cultural Center. The line will continue east on Broadway to West 18th Street, then go North of Oklahoma Street, then travel back east to West 9th Street where it will T-off to the north and south. It will go south one block to Wynnewood Street, then turn back east and go just past the practice football field. The north line will go up West 9th Street to Chickasha Street then back east to Country Club Drive and end at the Sulphur Hills Golf Course.
The line will carry raw, untreated water straight from the Lake of the Arbuckles to potentially be used for irrigation at the Sulphur Public Schools, Sulphur Hills Golf Course and Chickasaw Cultural Center.
Each entity will be responsible financially and constructionally to tie into the line. The water will be metered and billed separately from the drinking water lines.
The water can in no way be co-mingled with the drinking water lines due to the possibility of contaminating the drinking water, according to city officials.
The Arbuckle Master Conservancy District will provide the raw water line from the Lake of the Arbuckles and a holding tank to the city site and the city will provide a pump station to pump the water to the irrigation users.
Other construction crews seen around town are from the Chickasaw Telephone Company are installing fiber optic lines within the city.
In the near future, the city will also be replacing a water line from the water treatment plant, east of town, west down Wynnewood Street, and west to West 13th Street. The line replacement is due to a mandate by Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality to replace lines that contain lead.
Drivers should remain vigilant when driving in areas where the construction crews are working.
