Glasgow Water Co. is nearly done with the fourth of five phases in the construction of a second central waterline for its system and intends to apply for a state loan to fund the next phase.

GWC General Manager Scott Young termed the second waterline a “redundant transmission line” and said it would run parallel to the current line to deliver water from the company’s water treatment plant at Barren River Lake to a central distribution center near Cumberland Parkway and U.S. 31-E.

The redundant transmission line would provide GWC with an additional method for carrying water from its plant to its customers and ensure continued service in the event of a line failure.

“As we’ve grown and as our demand has grown, a need for a redundancy has become needed,” he said.

Additionally, the redundant transmission line, which is 4 inches thicker than the 20-inch line originally built in 1965, will vastly increase the amount of water GWC can provide to its customers.

“We need that source to increase our capacity so that we can pump more water from our water treatment plant into the main hub of our distribution center in Glasgow and to provide that redundancy should we ever have a failure on the old line or we have a failure on the new line,” he said.

If the current transmission line were to fail before the redundant transmission line is completed, Glasgow could potentially be without water service for a few days while the line is being repaired, though Young said he doesn’t know of any reason to suspect a failure will happen soon, despite the pipeline’s age.

“All the situations where we have went in and inspected the pipeline, we have seen nothing to indicate that something is wrong with the pipe,” he said.

The redundant transmission pipeline project began in 2007, Young said.

Young expects to be finished with Phase 4 of the project, which involves laying down pipe from U.S. 31-E to Pritchardsville Road, roughly four miles away, in the next few months.

On Aug. 12, Young updated the Glasgow City Council on the project and requested the city’s permission for GWC to apply for a low-interest loan from the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority to fund Phase 5.

“Typically these are low-interest loans. The last loan that we secured through KIA was for 0.75 percent interest. That was a 20-year term,” he told the council.

Young said the loan will be for roughly $2.6 million.

Additionally, the project includes a sixth and final phase that involves extending the line into a water tower to be built on property GWC already owns near U.S. 31-E and Grandview Avenue. The water tower is not needed to complete the redundant transmission line.

At the meeting, Young also said the entire six-phase project would likely be $10.5 million to $11 million.

The council unanimously voted to approve his request.

Council member Marlin Witcher said he voted to approve for the permission to file for the loan Young sought because he considers the redundant transmission line a crucial defense against the possibility of a line failure.

“It’s nothing but good because he said we only have one main line. We could lose service for a while if something went wrong,” he said.

Chasity Lowery, who is also a member of the city council, spoke highly of GWC’s work toward building the redundant transmission line.

“What Scott and his crew has done is proactive instead of reactive,” she said.