CONWAY — Rehabilitation work on Conway’s sanitary sewer system is underway.

On Tuesday, Conway Town Administrator Nancy Jenkins reported that sewer re-lining had begun on Garris Street and work crews will soon begin work on other streets.

Jenkins said Reynolds Inliner was the contractor performing the work. They are scheduled to work this week on Garris Street (Tuesday and Wednesday), Terrace Lane (Thursday and Saturday) and begin the task of re-lining sewer pipes along the town’s major thoroughfare (Main Street/U.S. 158) on Friday.

Town of Conway citizens as well as visitors who passed through the town on a regular basis can log onto www.townofconwaync.com (click on the Calendar of Events listing) for the latest information on where Reynolds crews are working on a particular day. Jenkins said she will update that information as it becomes available from the contractor.

Citizens and visitors can also contact the Conway Town Hall at 252-585-0488.

The rehabilitation work on the town’s sanitary sewer system was made possible by two grants from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund and the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center.

In July of last year, the town was awarded a grant in the amount of $1,611,851 from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund. In addition, a supplemental grant of $632,962 was also given for the project by the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center.

Conway Mayor Brian Bolton said the grants would save the town’s residents, “a tremendous amount of money.” He pointed out that if the 355 customers of the town’s sanitary sewer system had to foot the bill alone it would have cost $6,323 each.

The only money out of the town’s coffers is $287,037 to satisfy the required local matches for the grants.

Much of the town’s sanitary sewer system was built in the early 1960’s and 8-inch clay pipe was used during that period to construct sanitary sewer collection system.

Bolton said that system has been experiencing significant amounts of inflow and infiltration of storm and ground water during recent years. This has created excessive flow into the town’s wastewater treatment lagoon and created the need to spray an excessive amount of wastewater on the spray fields, which in turn threatens nearby Kirby Creek and the Meherrin River.

The project will upgrade and rehabilitate 37,120 linear feet of clay pipe with a lining process. In addition, 151 manholes will be repaired along with 198 sanitary sewer service connections.

Customers can expect minor disruptions in their service during the project. The rehabilitation of the pipes is minimally invasive, reducing the number of holes needed to be dug around town.