Energizer, it ain't: Segway runs down
The Segway is no longer on its way to Columbia County neighborhoods.
County meter reader Johnny McGahee rides a Segway.
Photo by Rob Carr
These days, county waterworks employees are using a gas-powered golf car to get them around while checking water meters.
"The batteries wouldn't hold up,'' Columbia County Waterworks Director Billy Clayton said, referring to the county's one Segway and why it's no longer being used in meter checking routes.
Clayton said the futuristic, one-man Segway will now be used by county workers only in warehouse-type locations.
"We're looking at using it at one of the water plants or at one of the treatment plants for those guys that do a bunch of running around out there,'' he said. "But it's limited. It's not an all-day, service-type scenario.''
County officials said they had great hopes with the Segway in the beginning, looking to use it as an energy-efficient alternative for checking water meters.
With gas prices increasing and the Segway no longer being used by the waterworks department in long runs, Clayton said he might have to reconsider the use of the golf car.
"I think probably with the scenarios as we know them today, which is different even from two or three months ago, that the golf cars may still be an idea, but battery-powered rather than gas.''