Utility district model showing signs of age.

Byline: Joe Geraghty

Apr. 22--Fifty years ago, water service often started at the kitchen table. In small communities across Tennessee, groups of neighbors got together in their homes and decided they wanted public water in their rural settings. No one else was going to bring water to them, so they formed utility districts and went in on the projects together.

"Over every hill you'd have a different water district," said Donna Lawson, utility manager for the Bristol-Bluff City Utility District.

State laws were written to govern the operations of the districts and gradually they developed into what they are today: full-fledged water providers, some serving thousands …