The Utilities Board provides quality drinking water and sanitary sewer service for Ozark, Alabama’s 15,000 residents. The Board serves approximately 6,706 water users and 4,933 sewer users. Our staff of 20 dedicated professionals provides quality service to our customers, pumping approximately 2.38 million gallons of water each day from 8 deep wells and treating an average of 1.46 million gallons a day of sewage at our two wastewater treatment facilities. In 2001 the Utilities Board made a commitment to Ozark’s future by adopting a long-range 30-year Capital Improvements Plan to upgrade the public water supply system and extend and upgrade the sanitary sewer system. This plan is ahead of schedule and as of 2023 has cost approximately $ 18 million. Some of the achievements are listed below:

• We have added sewage availability to 391 homes, an increase of 7%.

• The shift to radio-read water meters in 2007 allowed a staff reduction of two employees thru attrition which saved $ 1 million over 10 years.

• The $2.2-million Tuscaloosa aquifer well at Post Oak has the capacity to supply more than 50% of our daily usage and will allow Ozark to double in population without the need for additional water resources.

• Converting our water and sewer mapping to GIS at a cost of $165,000 allows us to quickly locate our pipelines in most cases.

• The Utilities Board has cleared over 100 miles of sewer right of ways at a cost of over $500,000.  This allows us to monitor our system in remote areas to be proactive in preventing sewer overflows. Herbicide is sprayed each year to prevent overgrowth from reoccurring.

• In 2013 the Board completed a $5-million bond issue to fund three improvement projects. Southside WWTP on Hwy. 123 south is 30 years old, and while the plant is operating at only 60% capacity, the operational equipment has reached its life expectancy. J&P construction began replacing the equipment in October 2013 at a cost of $ 2.2 million.  On the second project, we replaced about 13,000 feet of galvanized 2-inch water mains with 4-inch PVC mains at a cost of $500,000. The old galvanized mains had become corroded and frequent leaks were badly damaging the streets in those areas. Now the city will be able to resurface those streets without fearing reoccurring damage. The third project was a $2.3 million sewer rehabilitation project. In 2018, The Board replaced $1.75 million in water and sewer mains. 

• In 2021 the Board received $2.0 million from a bond issue and will continue to upgrade additional water and sewer system mains.

• Since 2000 our budget has grown from $ 2.1 million to $ 5.1 million but through careful planning, Ozark’s water and sewer rates are below the average cost in Alabama for 5,000 gallons used per month. Our cost for 5,000 gals. of water and sewer is $57.63 compared to the state average of $60.15. 

• AWPCA awarded the Utilities Board the Best Operated Water System for the 10th time in 18 years in 2018. We have won the Best Operated wastewater plant 7 times.

• Awarded the AMIC Risk Management Gold Award 8 times, Silver Award 2 times, and the Bronze Award 1 time since 2005 when we began service with AMIC. The Utilities Board has had only 2 loss-time accidents in the past 15 years.

Developers, you can now access the Board’s water and sewer specifications on this website. We can also provide a digital format by contacting our office.We continually strive to live up to our slogan

“OZARK UTILITIES BOARD – AT YOUR SERVICE”.

Joe Sexton, General Manager

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