By Lucille Lannigan, Growth and Development reporter
RINCON – A year after the half-billion-dollar package was approved, the water infrastructure project transforming southeast Georgia’s water supply is moving “full steam ahead.”
About $500 million was allocated in March 2025 to Bryan and Effingham counties and the City of Savannah for upgrades to existing treatment plants and construction of a new intake along the Savannah River. The largest share will fund a new surface water treatment plant in Effingham County, which will treat surface water from the Savannah River.
Savannah has long led the region’s water supply, but this project positions Effingham County as a major player.
“This will really change the trajectory of the region when it comes to water supply,” Effingham County Manager Tim Callanan said. “It brings surface water to areas that could only rely on groundwater, so it really protects those groundwater resources and allows us to continue to grow and create jobs.”
Rapid regional growth — especially the Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America — is driving the need. Much of southeast Georgia falls within restricted groundwater zones, limiting withdrawals from the Floridan Aquifer and making surface water expansion critical.
The project is in phase one, including upgrades to Savannah’s I&D Water Treatment Plant, new transmission lines by Effingham County, and a connection to the Hyundai site.
Savannah’s upgrades are well underway, while both Bryan and Effingham counties are set to begin their projects in the second quarter of 2026.
Phase one is expected to be complete by 2028, with a second phase — including Effingham’s new plant — projected for 2030 to 2032.
“The region is growing, and it is going to become more and more difficult for just one entity to be the provider for the region,” Callanan said. “We’re working really in partnership on this so they (Savannah) can get their capacity expanded and Effingham can get its new capacity going.”
Breaking down the project
Callanan said Effingham County’s future surface water treatment plant will allow the county to control its own destiny when it comes to water supply.
The county has relied on treated water – roughly three to four million gallons per day – from the City of Savannah’s I&D plant for decades.
“We will essentially be kind of cutting that umbilical, and we will be providing all of our customers with water produced from our plant,” he said.
An allocated $319 million will allow Effingham County to construct a brand new intake on the Savannah River and eight miles of water line that will feed into a brand new state-of-the-art surface water treatment plant – only the second of its kind in Coastal Georgia. About 18 miles of waterline will then take that water supply all the way to HMGMA in Bryan County.
The county is actively working to acquire property easements for this pipeline. While much of the infrastructure will run along an already existing Georgia Power right-of-way – a designated strip of land, allowing the utility to construct, operate and maintain power lines safely – one section, along Bluejay road, will require additional ROW. Callanan said they’re trying to keep this to a minimum.
In total, he said about 60 property owners will be impacted by project construction.
During an Effingham County Commission workshop in March, Callanan discussed inviting these property owners to be a part of the water pipeline groundbreaking ceremony slated for May.
The plant will be permitted for 23 million gallons per day, with an initial capacity of 12 million and room to expand.
“If other entities outside of Effingham County need access to supply, and it’s a reasonable cost to connect them to it, we’ll make it available,” Callanan said. “We're going to be working with partners throughout the region just to make sure that they get adequate water supply at a low price.”
Callanan said Hyundai is a key customer. HMGMA is currently permitted to extract 6.6 million gallons per day from four wells located in Bulloch County. Effingham County will take over some of that supply with surface water as soon as 2028. By 2029 to 2030, when Effingham County’s new water treatment plant is complete, HMGMA will be off of groundwater supply completely.
“Hyundai makes the economics work on the plant,” he said. As the volume goes up in the plant, your cost to produce that water goes down. When you start off with a large buyer, you can get your production cost down and be able to sell it to the residential users at an affordable rate.”
With a new plant, comes opportunities for new technology
The new facility will incorporate advanced treatment technology aimed at producing high-quality, clean water.
“The base goal is to make sure that what we’re producing is superior to anything else out there,” Callanan said.
A major focus is removing PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” Georgia is adopting federal EPA standards for PFAS in drinking water, which sets a maximum for contaminant levels. Public water systems must complete initial monitoring of PFAS and report results by 2027, meeting full compliance by 2029.
Damon Mullis, the Ogeechee Riverkeeper, said while getting HMGMA off of groundwater wells is a huge win, surface water comes with more risks, like the presence of PFAS.
“We prefer that the pristine waters of the aquifer be used for human consumption or agriculture and that industry rely more on surface water,” he said. “Even after surface water's treated it still has trace amounts of chemicals and PFAS and things like that. Although it meets the EPA drinking water standard it's still not as pure as aquifer’s water.”
The City of Savannah is currently involved in litigation concerning PFAS found in its water supply. The city filed a complaint in February of 2025 against 65 companies that make, sell, use and discharge the PFAS found in Savannah’s water supply.
Still, Anna Burke, a senior civil engineer for the I&D water treatment plant, said the city’s PFAS problem isn’t unique. Water treated at the I&D plant is surface water from Abercorn Creek, a tributary of the Savannah River. She said surface water is highly variable – influenced not only seasonally but also tidally.
Burke said staff are on hand at the water treatment plant 24/7 to monitor water quality and be prepared for changes.
“PFAS is at such a small level when it comes to detectability that traditional filter systems won't work,” Callanan said.
The new plant could use granular activated carbon and powder activated carbon in the treatment process to remove PFAS as well as ozone to eliminate any potential odor in the water.
“Our hope is to get it (PFAS) to a non-detectable level,” Callanan said.
Savannah’s portion of the allocated water infrastructure funds is $146 million for upgrades and expansion of the I&D plant.
The city broke ground on this project in early January.
“These improvements are so necessary,” Burke said. “Our facility was built in 1946, and I think you’d be surprised to walk around here and see how much stuff is original. With these improvements, we're rehabbing a lot of existing equipment and bringing in the latest technology and automation, which I think will really help our operators make better informed process decisions and improve water quality.”
Along with the surface water treatment plant, Callanan said Effingham County is opening a new wastewater treatment plant.
“Effingham County is committed to providing water resource service through the entire process – from raw water from Savannah, to potable water, to sewage treatment, to reuse … using the best environmental practices out there,” he said. We think we’re going to be an example for the rest of the state on how to do it right.”
