Asheboro takes first step toward joining regional water consortium

ASHEBORO — By agreeing to a memorandum of understanding, the Asheboro City Council took a first step toward joining the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority (PTRWA).

Voting unanimously in favor of the memorandum, the council gave authorization for staff to have discussions about accepting membership. 

The PTRWA, formed in 1986 to provide water by creating the Randleman Reservoir on Deep River, is made up of Randolph County and the cities of Archdale, Greensboro, High Point, Jamestown and Randleman. 

According to a letter from PTRWA to its members, adding Asheboro would be a significant step toward “increas(ing) available water capacity and expand(ing) the role of the PTRWA to offer wastewater service to its members and surrounding communities through adding the City of Asheboro to the Authority’s membership. Conceptually, this proposed solution supports the ongoing water and wastewater regionalization discussions that have taken place over the past couple years throughout both Randolph and Guilford Counties.”

With the development of Toyota Battery near Liberty and Wolfspeed just across the Randolph County line in Chatham County, as well as other industries coming to what’s known as the Carolina Core, the PTRWA noted the following: 

“It is estimated that the Triad communities alone will need more than 42 million gallons per day of additional wastewater capacity and 39 million gallons per day of additional water capacity by 2050, to accommodate the growth fueled by the Carolina Core’s development. This kind of capacity increase is likely too costly and too risky for the small and even the large utilities in the area to bear alone. A regional approach is needed, and luckily for the communities around the Carolina Core, a regional entity already exists in the Piedmont Triad Regional Water Authority (PTRWA).”

The Carolina Core is defined as the US 421 corridor from Greensboro to Dunn. It’s said to be a “globally competitive economic development market for the region. It offers a talent pool of more than two million people; access to more than 30 colleges and universities with 250,000 students; multiple airports; four megasites totaling 7,200 acres of certified land; urban research parks; and more.”

What the region lacks is “additional water and wastewater services beyond the current capacity of any single service provider.” 

The PTRWA said, “The NC Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ), under direction of the General Assembly, conducted a study early in 2024 to examine options for expanding water and wastewater utility services in the corridor. The intent of the study was to identify opportunities that would enable the corridor’s ability to meet an anticipated increase in both water and sewer utility services through a more regionalized approach to water resource planning, infrastructure construction and service delivery.

“This business case supports the state study by recommending a regional solution for wastewater by adding the City of Asheboro to the existing membership of PTRWA. This will provide the needed wastewater capacity for the region while also bringing an additional 3 to 5 million gallons per day (MGD) of water capacity. Asheboro’s system is particularly advantageous because of the proximity of its wastewater treatment facility on the Deep River to the other communities served by PTRWA.”

The Randleman Reservoir is capable of providing 54 million MGD of raw water and 14 MGD of treated water. Asheboro is able to provide another 3-5 MGD of water capacity. The city has been authorized by the state to send water along US 64 to Wolfspeed. The state is paying for running the water lines. In addition, Randolph County is using state funds to run water lines from PTRWA lines to join with the Asheboro water system.

The memorandum of understanding will be sent to the members of the PTRWA for approval to add Asheboro to the authority. The next step is to conduct a detailed feasibility analysis to consider all aspects for implementation. 

Finally, there will be the establishment of binding documents to implement the proposed solution.

Michael Rhoney, Asheboro’s water resources director, told the council, “This is the beginning of the process. There’s a long way to go.”

Walker Moffitt, mayor pro tem, said, “There’s a lot to be gained from this. The PTRWA has a lot of resources and we have a lot of water resources.”

In a related item on the agenda, Rhoney updated the council on the Wolfspeed water line.

He said there are four segments to the water line, beginning with a 16-inch line from Meadowbrook Road down Presnell Street to US 64. From there, 20-inch lines will be laid.

The second segment will run along US 64 from Presnell Street to Pleasant Ridge Road, where it will follow secondary roads into Ramseur. 

Segment 3 will go through Ramseur, back to US 64 to Eastern Randolph Road. 

The final segment will go to the Chatham County line, where it will join a line from Wolfspeed.