Carrollton to clean water plant transmission lines to wells

By Editor | April 30, 2025 |

By Carmen Ensinger

Carrollton City Council approved a procedure called “pigging” at their April meeting to clean out the transmission line from the wells to the water plant.
Public Works Director Steve Rosentreter explained what “pigging” entails.
“This company is going to send an abrasive foam up the line from the wells to the water plant,” he said. “This abrasive foam comes in tab form called ‘pigs’ and they scour the walls of your pipe and cleans them.”
Rosentreter said they had it done last in 2004 and it is recommended to do the procedure every year.
“As a result, there is a big buildup on the inside of our pipes,” he said. “That is where some of our contaminants are coming in before we clean it and filter it out.”
Apparently, there aren’t too many companies which do this type of cleaning.
“We were able to get two bids – one from a company in Petersburg and one from Missouri,” Rosentreter said. “There is a big price difference in the two companies. The company from Missouri gave a bid of $45,000 compared to $14,375. It is kind of a no-brainer.”
Lucky for Carrollton, when they last did the procedure in 2004, they put in what is called pig launching pads with transmitters throughout the 6.5 miles of transmission line from the wells in Eldred to the water plant.
“This guy is going to run five pigs through our line first which will take approximately 5.5 hours,” Rosentreter said. “If one of the pigs happens to get stuck, these transmitters will allow us to know exactly where it is at so we don’t have to dig up 6.5 miles of line.”
Rosentreter said after this first cleaning, if the city does it every year or even every two years, they can do it without the transmitters and only be out the cost of the pigs, which run $400 to $500 each.
The council approved the cleaning from Petersburg Plumbing and Excavating and the money for the procedure will come out of the Maintenance Fund.
The council also approved the purchase of another truck for the Public Works Department. Earlier in the evening, a meeting was held by the finance committee with Rosentreter discussing the truck.
“At this meeting, we went through the information thoroughly and while it is a significant purchase at this time, this is a good deal for what we are getting,” Alderman Larry Gillingham said. “The Finance Committee recommended this be passed.”
The truck in question is a 2018 Chevy Silverado with 85,000 miles. The truck was previously owned by the Jersey Rural Water District and had been thoroughly checked over. Cost of the truck is $32,000.
A motion to sell the 2019 Ford Explorer used by the police department was tabled because Police Chief Jimmy Buchanan was not at the meeting.
In addition to approving the appropriation ordinance, the council also approved the Fiscal Year 2026 Motor Fuel Tax resolution in the amount of $150,000.