BusIness GuIde

turbines were at the time of constructionthe largest in operationanywhere in the world. The plant’stwo generators are capable of generating39 megawatts of power atpeak capacity, enabling the city tofurnish 25 percent of its electricityrequirements.UTILITIESLIFESTYLEThe city has a 10 percent yearrounddiscount for residential andsmall business service. During June,July, August and September, the discountis doubled to 20 percent.WaterCentral Arkansas Water is the publicdrinking water system that servesLittle Rock, North Little Rockand most of the suburban areas.The raw water supply comes fromtwo manmade lakes. Lake Winonahas a surface area of 1,240 acresand a storage capacity of 14 billiongallons. The average depth ofthe lake is 34.7 feet. Lake Winonais 35 miles west of the metropolitanarea in the Ouachita NationalForest and has a watershed of 43square miles. A 39-inch-diametergravity-flow pipeline delivers waterfrom the lake to the system’s servicearea. The pipeline can handle23 million gallons per day.Lake Maumelle, the largest watersource, has an area of 8,900 acresand a capacity of 72 billion gallons.The average depth is 24.7feet. The lake is connected to thewater production system via a48-inch-diameter raw water pipelineand a 72-inch-diameter rawwater pipeline. The safe yield of thelake is 93 million gallons per day.Because the elevation of Lake Maumelleis below the water treatmentplants, pumping is necessary. TheLake Maumelle Pumping Stationhas four 30-million gallons per day(MGD) pumps and two 15-MGDpumps.Water treatment takes place at theOzark Point Water Treatment Plantand the Jack H. Wilson WaterTreatment Plant. The plants canaccept water from both lakes.The two treatment plants have arated capacity of 157 million gallonsper day. With existing watertreatment plants and sources, theLittle Rock-North Little Rock rawwater supply will be adequate untilthe year 2060. Planning already isunder way to secure future treatmentand raw water sources thatwill meet the needs of the metropolitanarea well into the 21st century.Central Arkansas Water has a servicearea of about 360 square milesand, including wholesale customers,serves a population of about400,000. In 2007, system-wide consumptionwas 23.7 billion gallons.Benton’s water is obtained fromthe Saline River. Storage capacity is4 billion gallons (finished water),with a pumping capacity exceeding13.3 million gallons per day.Bryant obtains water from CentralArkansas Water. In 2009, improvementswill be made to increase storagecapacity to 4 million gallons.Cabot’s source water capacity is 4.2million gallons per day from sixwater wells. Water is pumped fromthese wells in the Mississippi RiverValley North Alluvial Aquifer toa treatment plant south of Cabot.Cabot Water Works also purchasesup to 2 MGD of treated waterfrom Jacksonville Water Works.Carlisle’s water system operates at1.2 million gallons per day, with asurplus of 600,000 gallons per day.Conway’s raw water is obtainedfrom Lake James H. Brewer withan emergency supply coming fromCadron Creek. The water treatmentplant’s storage capacity is 24 milliongallons per day with a pumpingcapacity of 32 million gallonsper day. The surplus capacity is11.25 million gallons per day.Jacksonville’s water supply isobtained from municipal wells andCentral Arkansas Water. Storagecapacity is 9.25 million gallons witha pumping capacity of 10.4 milliongallons per day.Lonoke obtains its water from twowells. Storage capacity is 1 milliongallons with a pumping capacityof 2.6 million gallons per day.Maumelle’s water is obtained from11 wells and is provided by MaumelleWater Management. Thetreatment capacity is 7 million gallonswith an average daily consumptionof 2.6 million gallons per day.Sherwood obtains its water fromCentral Arkansas Water.Rate schedules for the variouswater systems may be obtainedfrom the respective water utilities.Sanitary Sewer SystemsLittle Rock Wastewater is publiclyowned and operated by the City ofLittle Rock under direction of theLittle Rock Sanitary Sewer Committeeand the Little Rock Board ofDirectors. With over 1,200 milesof sewer pipe, Little Rock Wastewaterserves the city with two secondarytreatment facilities thatdischarge into the Arkansas River.The Adam’s Field Treatment Facilityis near the airport and can treatup to 36 million gallons of wastewatera day. It uses modern technologicaladvances such as odor controltowers and ultraviolet (UV)disinfection.The Fourche Creek Treatment Facilityis near the port area of LittleRock and has the capacity to treatup to 16 million gallons of wastewatera day. Ninety percent of theenergy used at the facility isobtained from recycled methanegas produced at the facility.Little Rock Wastewater is currentlyconstructing a third treatment facility,near Pinnacle Mountain, whichwill have the capacity to treat up to4 million gallons of wastewater aday. This facility will use the mostmodern wastewater treatment technology,such as a tertiary treatmentprocess, odor control towers andUV disinfection.North Little Rock operates threesecondary treatment plants with acombined capacity of 23 milliongallons per day.Benton’s secondary treatment facilitiesare capable of processing 6.3million gallons per day and a surpluscapacity of 57 million gallons.Bryant operates a primary treatmentplant with a capacity of 3 million gallonsper day and surplus capacityof 1.5 million gallons per day.Cabot’s wastewater treatment capacityis 6 million gallons per day.The new treatment facility beganoperation in December 2007.Carlisle has a capacity of 850,000gallons per day and 2,304 customers.The sewer system operateswith a surplus of 400,000 gallonsper day.Conway’s wastewater systemhas a 12.6 million gallon capacitywith an average daily demandof 8 million gallons per day.Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce 2009 Business Guide 47