Charlotte Harbor Water association to start replacing 58-year-old pipes

Residents and businesses in the county’s oldest waterfront neighborhoods will see machinery soon in their front yards digging up the earth for new water pipes.

Dozens of dignitaries including U.S. Rep. Greg Steube gathered Thursday to celebrate Charlotte Harbor Water Association signing a construction contract that took three years and a personnel overhaul to accomplish.

The first thing going into the ground will be about 17 miles of new water pipes stretching from the old Harbour Heights neighborhood to the unfinished Sunseeker resort up U.S. 41 to ABC Fine Wine and Spirits. To be replaced is iron piping from the 1960s.

The 58-year-old association took over from the Mackle brothers developers in the 1960s. It evolved separately from the public regional water authority, which draws from the Peace River. While located on the Peace River, the private association draws from an underground aquifer.

The system currently serves a population of about 10,000 people, Sunseeker notwithstanding. About 3.5 years ago, it was falling apart, association board member Steve Vieira said, with failing pipes, water pressure too low for houses and firefighting and meters that did not register how much water was used.