Our History
About Us
Our Story
Smiths Water Authority (SWA) was established by Special Session of the Legislature of the State of Alabama in 1965 to provide potable water service in the unincorporated areas of southeast Lee County. The Board of Directors obtained a loan from Farmers Home Administration for the initial infrastructure.
In the beginning, SWA purchased water from Phenix City Utilities to serve its initial 625 water customers. SWA’s customer base grew rapidly and in 1986 it constructed a 1 million gallon per day water treatment facility, drawing water from Lake Oliver reservoir on the Chattahoochee River. Due to unprecedented growth, the Board of Directors found it necessary to expand the water treatment facility in 1994 to a production capacity of 3.4 million gallons per day. This expansion allowed the Authority to produce enough water to discontinue purchasing from Phenix City Utilities.
In 1995, Smiths Water Authority amended its Articles of Incorporation to provide sanitary sewer service. The corporation’s name was changed to Smiths Water & Sewer Authority (SWSA) accordingly.
The water treatment facility was expanded again in 2011 to a water production capacity of 5.9 million gallons per day.
At present, Smiths Water & Sewer Authority’s water system consists of approximately 291 miles of water mains and the sewer system consists of approximately 7 miles of sanitary sewer pipe. Today, SWSA serves over 9,500 water customers and over 600 sewer customers.
Our Mission
For Smiths Water and Sewer Authority, our most important goal is to provide our customers with a clean, safe supply of drinking water. SWSA currently serves over 9,500 water customers and just over 600 sewer customers as our sanitary sewer service area is currently very limited.
We intend to continue to expand the sewer service area as budgetary considerations and the procurement of easements allow.
Our Accomplishments
Smiths Water and Sewer Authority is a member in good standing of The American Water Works Association and The Alabama Rural Water Association.
We are proud to have been selected as the best operated water treatment facility and the best operated distribution system in the state of Alabama for three consecutive years by the Alabama Water and Pollution Control Association.