After turning down requests by the West Dallas County Water Authority many times, Bogue Chitto community residents will finally have an opportunity to switch water providers.

The West Dallas Water Authority will have an application and informational session for residents at 1 p.m. on Saturday at New Vernon Church.

The meeting will allow residents an opportunity to get clean clear water, District 4 county commissioner Larry Nickels said.

“The quality of water is good,” Nickels said. “The water is clean and there is no bacteria.”

To sign up, residents simply have to complete an application. Nickels said there is no application fee, but 50 residents must sign up to make the project worthwhile.

Dallas County residents living in Bogue Chitto currently rely on their own deep wells, but many of those wells have dried up or begun to spew sand, Bogue Chitto resident Shelley Anne Moore said at the October 14 Dallas County Commissioners meeting.

“When we washed our hands, it was gritty,” Moore said. “We had to have the faucet replaced because it was crammed with sand. I’ve never seen so much black sand; you can’t brush your teeth because there is sand in the water.”

The Bogue Chitto community is a small, unincorporated area lining a section of Dallas County Road 3, northwest of Orrville. It consists of approximately 80 homes. At the commission meeting, Moore presented a petition with 72 signatures of residents interested in making the switch.

The water line currently stops short of Bogue Chitto at Salem School, approximately three miles away. An extension would cost the water authority approximately $1 million to complete, according to West Dallas County Water Authority project manager Malloy Chandler.

Signing up for water requires a 60-month commitment, Chandler said. The base monthly amount is $23 per person, regardless of whether or not water is being used.

But clean water isn’t the only benefit to Bogue Chitto residents. Nickels said a water-line extension would also allow the fire department to provide better coverage.

“After the water line is extended, they can put in fire hydrants, which lets the fire department to reload their trucks quicker,” he said.