The City of Brunswick owns and operates a water utility. The utility serves areas both inside the City Limits of Brunswick and in the unincorporated areas of Glynn County on the mainland providing customers with water and collecting and treating wastewater. The Water and Wastewater Department of the City of Brunswick manages the utility. The Mission of the utility is: To serve the community in utilizing water resources wisely: providing an adequate supply of clean safe drinking water supporting fire control efforts protecting the public health protecting the waters of the community from pollution Providing these services in a safe, environmentally sound, and cost effective manner while still supporting reasonable growth.

The Brunswick water utility is set up as an enterprise fund. The purpose of this is to make sure the utility pays its own way through rates and fees charged to its customers. Other than some Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funds for specific projects as approved by the voters of the community, the Water and Wastewater Department gets all of the money to operate and maintain the system from its customers paying for services they receive. The City provides water to approximately 12,600 customer accounts. Of these, slightly over half are inside the city. The estimated population served is 35,000. Sanitary sewer services are provided to 10,600 customer accounts. Of these accounts, 62% are inside the City Limits. The population served, which includes wastewater received for treatment from the Glynn County system in the northern part of the mainland, is estimated at 34,000. Water provided to customers is pumped from the Upper Floridan Aquifer. The City has six water plants. Since the water comes from wells deep in the ground, only simple treatment is needed. The water is aerated to remove Sulfides that can cause odor similar to rotten eggs. Chlorine is added to maintain water that is free of bacteria. Fluoride and a corrosion control agent are also added. The high quality water consistently meets all regulatory requirements, as administered by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD), the state agency responsible for regulations from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since the water is coming from zones of porous limestone, it is moderately hard. Once water is used, what goes down the drain enters sanitary sewers. These are separate from the storm sewers used to handle runoff from rain. Over sixty wastewater stations pump the used water discharged into the sanitary sewer system to the Academy Creek Water Pollution Control Facility for treatment. The Plant treats the sewage with a biological process that removes more than 95% of organic materials and solids. The reclaimed water discharged from the plant consistently exceeds all permit requirements. The City, as well as being regulated, is also required by the EPD to function as a regulatory agency to its customers. The Industrial Pretreatment Program regulates discharges to protect the sewers and the plant from potentially harmful discharges. These include dangerous chemicals, excessively strong wastewater and fats, oils and grease that can build up in sewers to cause backups and discharges of untreated sewage. The Customer Service Division, under the Finance Department, handles account issues such as signing up new customers, receiving payments and closing accounts. This Division is located on the first floor of the municipal building at 700 Gloucester Street and may be reached at (912) 267-5511. The Office of the Director on the second floor handles other departmental managerial administrative functions. The phone number is (912) 267-5509. Tap-in fees for new services are handled in this office. Trouble calls go to (912) 267-5578. The Director is Mr. Keith Morgan. As a Department Head, he is responsible to the City Manager, Mr. Roosevelt Harris, Jr. The City Manager is responsible to the City Commission for all City of Brunswick operations. Other government agencies with water utilities in the community are Glynn County, serving St. Simons Island and some areas on the mainland outside the Brunswick service area, and the Jekyll Island Authority, serving Jekyll Island. Provided by the City of Brunswick Water and Wastewater Department ^Top