PINETOPS — Work has begun in Pinetops this week to install more than 11,000 linear feet of water line throughout the town.

The town has received $1 million in two grants from The Rural Center, one to replace water lines throughout the town, and the other to re-line its sewer pipes.

Pinetops Mayor Vines Cobb said that for the town to receive the grants, it had to contribute $125,000 of its own money for each one.

Williams Utilities Inc. of Wilson won the contract for the water line work and had a crew working Tuesday on East Dunn Street installing the line. Pinetops Town Manager Greg Bethea said their bid for the water line contract came in at $297,619, which will allow the town to perform more work on the system, namely installing new meters.

With the current work underway, Bethea said 11,076 linear feet of 1.5- to 2-inch wide pipes will be placed all throughout the town, which has its own, stand-alone water and sewer system.

The water lines will take around three months to be installed throughout the town, Bethea added.

When the work on the water lines is complete, Cobb said the work on re-lining the town's sewer pipes "will be done in 2010."

Bethea said that even with the grant for the town's sewer system, it would not be enough to completely overhaul the lining for those pipes, which have become cracked over time and have allowed leakage to slip through.