The city of Kingston, the Rockwood Water and Gas Board and the Roane Central Utility District have joined together in a 20-yaer agreement to build a 16-inch water line between Kingston and Midtown.  Water will be transported from the Rockwood system, through existing Roane Central lines and sold to Kingston as needed.  Construction should begin in late 2007 with completion scheduled for mid-2008. 

Kingston will pay Rockwood $1.65 per 1000 Gallons and will pay Roane Central $0.4 cents per 1000 gallons for transportation costs.  The contract can be renegotiated periodically as operating costs increase.  The project is valued at $11.5 million and has been years in planning.  Kingston has received a $500,000 grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission together with a $205,600 grant and low interest loan from the Rural Development Administration in order to make the project possible. 

Over the next several years, Kingston will require additional water to meet growth demands especially in the Gallaher Road commercial corridor.  The City estimates that a water plant expansion would cost around $4 million, so the $1.5 million water line with offsetting grants is very attractive to the city officials.

Operating costs of both Kingston and Rockwood plants are now about the same. When completed, the project will link Rockwood, Roane Central, Kingston, and Watts Bar Utility District lines together.  Harriman and Oak Ridge could be connected easily at a later date if needed.  In addition to financial feasibility, a major benefit of this project is the potential to back up any of these systems in case of an emergency. At one point, Kingston officials had considered adding to the city’s own water plant capacity, but eventually decided to tap into Rockwood’s excess production capacity as an alternative.