The Marion Water and Sewer System serves nearly every home and business within the City limits. The system is comprised of four major organizational components: Water Treatment, Water Distribution, Sewer Collection, and Waste Water Treatment. All four operate under the general direction of Brian Thomas, Marion’s Utilities Director. Brian presently holds Class IV-A Water, Class III Distribution, and Class II Waste Water licenses and has approximately ten years experience as a water and waste water operator. Twelve full and part time employees work for the Water and Sewer System.

Drawing water from the 50-acre, 182 million-gallon capacity Lake George, the Marion Water Treatment Plant operates 16 hours a day, six days a week. The plant has a capacity of 869,000 gallons per day (GPD), with an average flow of 593,000 GPD. Lead Operator at the Water Treatment Plant is John Blanchard. The facility is located on Chapel Hill Road, just outside the city limits.

The City’s Water Distribution System consists of two 600,000-gallon ground storage tanks and water lines ranging in size from two inches to twelve inches (with the vast majority of lines in service at six inches or larger). The Sewer Collection System is not quite as all-encompassing as the Water Distribution System, but it does consist of about 122,000 linear feet of sewer lines and cover over 90% of the City’s corporate boundaries.

The Marion Waste Water Treatment Plant, located just off US 60 at the City’s northeastern boundary, was originally built in 1971 and has a design capacity of 660,000 GPD. Tim Hodge is Marion’s Waste Water Plant Superintendent.

Due to rising production and treatment costs—along with the addition of new debt for improvements—over the past five years, the City has recently been forced to increase its water and sewer rates. However, a study released in 2006 comparing municipal water and sewer rates in the Pennyrile Region showed Marion to still be well below average for comparably sized systems. A copy of the full rate and fee structure for the Water and Sewer System may be downloaded from the Document Center. Also available is the City’s most recent Consumer Confidence Report (CCR) and helpful trivia on water use and conservation.

Service & Billing Procedures. New service and all billing matters should be addressed to Pam Enoch, City Clerk, at Marion City Hall. To establish water and/or sewer service, customers must sign a water contract and pay a deposit of $50. A non-refundable service charge of $10 will be added to the customer’s first bill. The City credits each deposit with 4% interest per year and refunds the deposit, plus interest, at the termination of service.

 A 24-hour notice is required for establishing new service.Customers should always receive a bill by the first of each month. Bills are due by the 10^th of the month, and late notices are sent out on the 11^th. Non-payment by the 22^nd of the month will result in the shut-off of water service. To reestablish service following a cut-off, the customer must pay the bill in full, plus a $10 service charge. In certain cases, the City will allow customers to sign an extension agreement to prevent the shut-off of water service. See Ms. Enoch for more details. A 24-hour notice is also required for terminating service at the customer’s request. The final bill is deducted from the deposit; any leftover amount is refunded to the customer at the end of the month. Customers may transfer their deposit within 24 hours from one service location to another without having to appear at City Hall to sign a new contract.