The water line from Smithfield to the new Hardy Elementary should be functional by October, according to Jack Reed, director of the town’s public works department.

Reed gave an update on the water line’s construction at the Town Council’s July 24 committee meetings.

The Isle of Wight County-funded project entails extending a 12-inch main from the intersection of Thomas Street and Luter Drive in downtown Smithfield to Berry Hill Road on the opposite side of the Pagan River. A second phase entails extending the line from Berry Hill Road to a booster station off Old Stage Highway, and from there to the 500,000-gallon water tower serving Hardy and surrounding communities.

Ninety-eight percent of the water main’s path through the Smithfield Foods meatpacking plant’s parking lot is installed, Reed said, though the project has stalled due to water pressure issues.

The well serving the circa-1961 Hardy Elementary will continue to operate until the new water line is functional, Reed said. The old Hardy is slated to be demolished by mid-August, save for two wings that will be repurposed as Isle of Wight County Schools’ new central office.

Bill Cram, executive vice president of the new Hardy’s construction management firm, M.B. Kahn, told Isle of Wight’s School Board in July that construction crews were able to fill the water tower by pumping water from 20,000-gallon tanker trucks.