Meet the Streets, Water Depts.

Located just outside the city limits of Monticello, the City of Monticello’s Post Road complex is home to the city’s water treatment plant and the city’s streets building complete with its pick up trucks, trailers, mowers, the city’s chipper truck and various other equipment.

“It’s old but it still makes good water,” said Waymon Cody, Water and Sewer Superintendent of the City of Monticello’s Water Treatment Plant. Originally built in the 1940’s, the Water Treatment plant doubled its size with an addition in 1977. Now in 2023, the building still stands, is still in use and as Cody said, it still works. And it makes good water 24 hours a day.

A biology major with a degree from Savannah State, Cody found his way into the world of water treatment by accident. Planning to be a doctor he took a six month break from school before starting his studies to be a doctor. His six month break gave him time to relax, think about his future and to go fishing.

Unknowingly fishing in a restricted area, a Newton County water department employee approached Cody and while explaining to him why he couldn’t fish there, they struck up a conversation. The next thing Cody knew he was working in Newton County in the water field and he’s been working in the field ever since.

In 2001 he left Newton and started working for the City of Monticello. Working part time from 2001 to 2003, Cody returned full time to Monticello in 2009. “I love Monticello, I really do,” he said. “I care for Monticello. I know I will retire here,” he added.

Though the building itself might need some improvement and doubling its size again would be great, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, Cody is quick to say that he has full support from the city council to make sure Monticello has safe water. “They never give me any trouble. They don’t cut corners when it comes to water,” he emphasized.

The water and sewer department, like all city departments, presents its budget annually. He has a significantly smaller sta? than the original 20 or so employed at the water treatment plant back in the 1990’s, but he does what he can with his small crew to take care of Monticello’s water and sewer systems. His biggest wish list item currently is two more water towers (at least one, he said) to ensure there is always enough water for the city, especially as its population grows. The water in the tanks is constantly being replaced every two to three weeks.“We can produce more water,” Cody said,”but we need more tanks to store it in.”

“We have our own water in Monticello,” he stated, explaining that though the system is old the parts repairs are always new and the new parts last 50 to 75 years. And even though the plant’s computer system isn’t the newest touchscreen technology, the software used to monitor the water quality is the newest and most up to date available.

Cody used to give tours of the treatment plant, not only introducing people to how the treatment plant works but also introducing people to the field of water treatment. He would like to give tours again. He is especially worried about the future of water treatment, telling me, “We don’t have anyone, any young people getting into the water treatment field.”

His o?ce is almost overrun with notebooks that are filled with rules and regulations and state required water conservation and protection plans. He took a minute to give a big thank you to Robert Jordan of Jordan Engineering for Jordan’s help in preparing the city’s water conservation plan. Cody added that Jordan, whose firm has been in Monticello for 25 years, is a big advocate for the city, who always comes through to help when needed.

Taking several calls throughout the interview because of trees down from the previous nights storm, one was a damage report on a sewage lift station that was down. The lift station helps pump the sewage up, moving wastewater from lower to higher elevation, particularly where the elevation is not su?cient for gravity flow. Trees were down on and around the station and its fence and required a chain saw crew to clean it up. Not wanting a lift station down for long, the water and sewer crew, who also operate chain saws when needed, cut the tree up to make sure the lift station was back up and running as quickly as possible.

During the day online water testing occurs every second and manually every three hours. A report on the water quality is sent to the State of Georgia each day. State regulations have to be followed and the water’s chemical levels have to be monitored daily.

The water plant’s two water plant operators Daaylan Miller and K.C. Champion, keep a check on the water quality, manually checking the quality every three hours. Pouring water in a beaker and using probes, Ph meters and other lab items, Miller and Champion are in process of becoming licensed, o?ering a glimmer of hope for at least two young people who are showing an interest in the water treatment field.

Both working at the plant just five months, they were born and raised in Jasper County with Miller from Monticello and Champion from Shady Dale. “It’s like my Bio-Tech class all over again,” said Miller, comparing his work to the Bio-Tech class he took while at Jasper County High School, where both he and Champion are alumni.

Miller and Champion check the water reservoir on top of the hill near the plant each morning. They run chemical tests every three hours checking the pH levels and the levels of phosphate, iron, manganese, alkalinity, hardness, chlorine and fluoride levels, replenishing chemicals when needed to ensure the water is safe and the plant is running and at full capacity. “Your water is safe with us,” Miller said proudly, talking about the city’s water.

The community will know if there’s a problem in the water system. There are state laws and rules that require water departments to post in the paper when there are spills or problems in the water, something that Waymon has had to do once.

On call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Waymon doesn’t go too far from home when he’s not at work. He makes a trip to his hometown of Oxford, GA every weekend to see his parents, who are both retired. He enjoys watching a good movie and loves drag racing.

He is a father to two teenagers, a daughter and a son. His daughter is in her first year and his son is in his last. Explaining that he doesn’t tell his children what they should choose as a career path, he admitted that he would love for them to work in the water treatment field.

As for the water quality in Monticello, Waymon believes it is the best in the area. “Our water is constantly turning over. That makes it really fresh. The water in a bottle on a store shelf, you have no idea how old that water is. Our water is fresh.” Waymon shared. “We have the best water around. I drink it everyday.”

In a long, low concrete block building next to the water treatment plant is another city building. Watching men in bright yellow shirts file in one at a time to punch a time clock prior to their 7:30 am start time, I found some of the men who work for the both city’s streets department and the water and sewer department sitting around in a circle in a barely lit room of the building. Talking about the storm the previous night, the men came up with a game plan on how to tackle their days tasks.

All but one of the men live in Monticello and Jasper County. Responsible for keeping the city’s streets and sidewalks clear 15 feet from the yellow line in the middle of the street its edge, including the strip of grass between the street and the sidewalk, the crew cuts grass and picks up limbs for chipping all over the city. They alternate locations throughout the city on a daily basis, changing up their schedule when needed for emergencies.

Two of the newest members of the crew, Thomas Rogers and Marquez Thomas, have been with the city about 6 months. “I like labor work,” Rogers said. He is on call after hours and had spent the previous evening helping clean up limbs from a storm that took down trees and knocked out power all over the city. Rogers was quick to add that in several areas of the city, the citizens who live in Monticello often help with debris clean up.

Working alongside Rogers and nodding in agreement with his explanation of their job duties and work responsibilities was alongside Marquez Thomas and Anthony Smith. Smith, known to his friends as The Real Deal, has been employed with the city for almost three years. As they loaded up in their city work truck for the day, M. Thomas announced, “I love this little city. It’s the best. It’s pretty cool to live and work here.”

The city of Monticello Water and Sewer Department and Streets Department can be reached via phone at 706.468.6062.