Housing that has opened to residents in southern Washington Twp. in recent years has experienced issues with water pressure, Montgomery County Environmental Services Director Matt Hilliard said.
From late 2023 to Summer 2024, Montgomery County Environmental Services received numerous complaints related to water pressure in what they call the Walnut Grove Service area: the areas of Sheehan Road, Social Row and Dayton-Lebanon Pike. This includes showerheads and sprinklers trickling out little water.
Low water pressure and limited volume also create risks for the township’s fire services.
“For our current customers, their water pressure will increase,” said Hilliard. “And for the fire department, they’ll have adequate fire flow to manage any fires that were to happen down there. And there’s undeveloped land, so this will help support future needs.”
Washington Twp. in southern Montgomery County is home to more than 61,000 residents.
Montgomery County officials said that over the next five years, they anticipate neighboring Warren County will develop land in its northern strip. Washington Twp. officials, too, have worked with county leaders about their future plans for undeveloped land at the southern end of its territory.
“We wanted to be able to address what is happening,” said Montgomery County administrator Michael Colbert. “I think this gives us a good median between dollars allocated, future development and the ability to get infrastructure in place.”
A Washington Twp. spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about development plans.
County officials said that after the 2019 tornadoes, which caused an estimated $550 million in damage across the region, they wanted to add back-up generation on all the county’s major assets. The addition of a back-up generator to the Walnut Grove Booster pump station is a part of that plan.
The generator and Sheehan Road water main extension work is estimated at $1.2 million and will likely wrap up by the summer of 2026, county officials said. The remaining work could wrap up as early as mid-2028.
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