Emergency water contact: Scott Augustine 706-424-1325

Ordinance to Amend 6-13-19 Water System (02240749xA0B3B)  WATER ORDINANCE EFFECTIVE 07-01-2019

New Accounts – Application-for-water-serviceDownload

New water accounts require application to the Town.

Residential Accounts require a $50 deposit.  Commercial Accounts require a $200 deposit.

If you are building a new structure, or if you have been on a private well and want to connect to the Town’s water system, there is an additional $1,500 connection fee. This covers the cost of a new meter, labor, and materials necessary to install the meter.

Billing:

The Water Department reads meters near or on the last day of the month, and bills are sent out a few business days later.

Administrative fee per month for each water account billed monthly$2.00
Water rate for residential consumers for first 2,000 gallons$31.00
Water rate for residential consumers after initial 2,000 gallons used

 

1 gallon – 2,000 gallons over the initial 2,000 gallons

2,001 – 5,000 gallons over the initial 2,000 gallons

5,001 gallons and up over the initial 2,000 gallons

 

 

$4.50/1000

$4.75/1000

$5.00/1000

Base water rate for commercial and industrial consumers

 

 for first 2,000 gallons

(see water ordinance schedule for ERU calculation)

 

$31.00 x ERU
Water rate for commercial consumers after initial 2,000 gallons used

 

1 gallon – 2,000 gallons over the initial 2,000 gallons

2,001 – 5,000 gallons over the initial 2,000 gallons

5,001 gallons and up over the initial 2,000 gallons

 

 

$4.50/1000

$4.75/1000

$5.00/1000

Please contact Town Hall for further information or account activation at (706) 754-6040

Policies:

The Town of Tallulah Falls Water Department strives to protect our most precious resource by maintaining a conservation mindset. Our overall goal is to reduce the need to provide any more water than is absolutely necessary for our small community. This serves to minimize stress on the aquifer from which we draw our water, and helps us to be better stewards and kinder “Upstream Neighbors” of a resource that is also needed “down stream” by our friends and fellow Georgians.

As a gesture of good faith, the Town of Tallulah Falls enacted and codified a permanent Drought Response Level 1 criteria for all residents in the Town of Tallulah Falls. As written in Article IV, Section 12-90 of the Town Ordinances,

“Outdoor watering for purposes of planting, growing, managing, or maintaining ground cover, trees, shrubs, or other plants in the incorporated area of the town may occur only between the hours of 4:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m……“

This is only a first step. We also want to be a source of education for our residents on how to be “Water Smart”. First, homeowners can start by looking for the “WaterSense” label when replacing or purchasing new appliances and fixtures. Second, by repairing or replacing leaking fixtures in and around the house, thousands and tens of thousands of gallons per month can be conserved. The following chart shows what level of water loss you can expect if a leak goes unattended:

  • Dripping Faucet @ ¼ GPM = 10,800 Gallons/Month
  • Leaking Toilet @ ½ GPM = 21,600 Gallons/Month
  • Drip Irrigation @ 1 GPM = 43,200 Gallons/Month
  • Watering Garden for:
    • 2 Hours @ 5 GPM = 18,000 Gallons/Month
    • 2 Hours @ 10 GPM = 36,000 Gallons/Month
  • Unattended Water Hose – 1 Night @ 10 GPM = 5,400 Gallons
  • Broken Service Line:
    • 1 Night @ 15 GPM = 8,100 Gallons
    • 1 Day @ 15 GPM = 21,600 Gallons
    • 1 Week @ 15 GPM = 151,200 Gallons
    • 1 Month @ 15 GPM = 648,000 Gallons
  • Stuck Ice Maker @ 2 GPM = 86,400 Gallons/Month
  • Stuck Check Valve in Washing Machine @ 8 GPM = 240 Gallons/30 Mins

Thirdly, Tallulah Falls is also a “FireWise” community, and by combining “FireWise” and ‘Water-Wise” landscaping techniques, homeowners can not only help the town conserve water, but also potentially protect their homes from devastating wild fire losses.

Working together, we can conserve and protect an asset so vital to life, and be responsible stewards of the resources entrusted to us.

Ongoing Projects:

The Mayor and Council are currently seeking a permit to withdraw surface water from Tallulah Lake (aka Terrora Lake) for the purpose of selling water to neighboring communities to help “Drought Proof” this small corner of Northeast Georgia.

The Council and Mayor are also seeking input and resources to locate an appropriate placement for a storage tank at or near the top of Hickory Nut Mountain. This tank would serve to provide better water flow capacity to hydrants and to act as a buffer for the Hickory Nut Mountain Water System. A large capacity water tank would possibly help reduce ISO ratings for homeowners on Hickory Nut Mountain Rd. In a recent incident, both of the Hickory Nut Mountain pumps failed simultaneously, causing the residents on that system to lose water completely for several days while we waited for replacement parts to arrive. A tank at or near the top of Hickory Nut Mountain would have been able to store enough water to have mitigated this problem. By implementing a few water conservation techniques, and the ability of the Fire Department to haul potable water, residents on Hickory Nut Mountain could potentially go weeks without suffering such an outage in the future.

Public Awareness:

Periodically we will have special announcements for the public. You can check back here or click the “Special Announcements” tab in the menu above.

Annual Consumer Confidence Reports: