Thomasville named first city in South Ga. to be ‘WaterFirst’ certified

THOMASVILLE, Ga. (WALB) - The city of Thomasville is making history right here in South Georgia as they are the first city to be a WaterFirst Certified Community. The city is being recognized statewide for its outstanding efforts in clean drinking water and water waste management.

Through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, the city of Thomasville has been recognized for its outstanding water management in drinking water and wastewater. This new certification comes with many benefits to the city including a 1% interest reduction rate- making it easier for the city to obtain money and less of a hassle of having to pay it back. Non-certified cities can only apply once every five years for certain grants, the city of Thomasville can apply yearly.

“It gives us an opportunity to share with others the importance of taking care of the water quality and there is a benefit of having a reduction in our loans through GEFA,” Grants Administrator for Thomasville Pam Schalk said.

“GEFA has a lot more money to give out, but we can give it to them at a lower interest rate so that they don’t have to pay back as much money,” Lead Program Manager for WaterFirst Brian Woodham said.

The program, run by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, is a way to honor and reward communities that demonstrate proactiveness and are excellent in water resource management and sustainability.

“We just had to take 100 years of all that work and condense it into an application for the WaterFirst designation,” Assistant Utilities Superintendent Eric Gosset said.

“It shows that we’re taking care of our resources both for the benefit of our community and not just our community but our region,” Schalk said.

There are 9 different criteria that the city has to pass in order to get the certification. It also evaluates water management in drinking water and wastewater.

“So basically, a complete comprehensive look into the water of these cities and see how well they’re doing it and those that are doing very well, we reward them,” Woodham said.

So, what does all this exactly mean?

For city officials, it means that now you have access to discounts that other non-water first communities will not have. For residents, it means that your water here in the city including your drinking water is excellent.

“It’s a 1% reduction on their loan, which can make a huge difference on constructing a wastewater treatment plan which can be $25-50 million, so a 1% interest reduction rate is huge,” Water Research Project Manager Virgina Thom said.

“They shoot up on the list, so they have a higher priority than everyone else, and it’s a pretty coveted grant money because not everybody gets it,” Woodham said.

This new certification in the city of Thomasville not only allows the city to have lower financial payouts but also shows that the city’s drinking water is high quality.

The city of Thomasville is encouraging other South Georgia communities to go through with this water certification.

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