Photo by Teah Dowling
By next year, residents within the village and town of Champlain will have better quality water both in the glass and in the shower.
CHAMPLAIN — By next year, residents within the village and town of Champlain will have better quality water.
The town and village of Champlain partnered up to create and execute a municipal water district joint consolidation agreement to provide reliable and safe water supply to customers within the districts.
The new system, village of Champlain Mayor Greg Martin said, will reduce 75 percent of the hardness and improve water pressure within households.
About 60 fire hydrants will be added within the municipalities, said Champlain Supervisor Larry Barcomb, and all water meters will be replaced and updated with a new radio frequency feature to read them faster.
“There are a lot of little benefits,” he said. “But they add up.”
Under this agreement, six water districts will be merged into a single district.
The village, who supplies both municipalities with water from the Great Chazy River, currently produces 110,000 gallons of water a day from its three wells.
This system, Martin said, will almost double that number.
Two water towers were recently constructed on West Service Road and Prospect Street for $2.5 million.
Both towers still need to go through testing for leakage and pressure and be approved by the state health department.
Construction bids for placing the underground water pipes were recently awarded to Casale Excavation Inc from Wynantskill, who plan on start laying them down hopefully sometime this month, Martin said.
“This is going to be a very disruptive summer for residents,” he said. “There will be a lot of traffic changes and construction.”
Roughly eight miles of pipe will be placed six feet deep along Route 11, West Service Road, New Ridge Road and a few side roads.
Barcomb said the public has already been made aware that if any damage is done to their property, it will be restored to its original state at no cost.
Barcomb said he’s heard little negative feedback about the project.
“The public is very anxious to get this,” he said.
Planning for the project began about eight years ago.
Two years ago, the town received a $2 million grant and a $11.4 million loan from the state to implement this $13.4 million project.
Barcomb is hoping the project will be completed by the end of this year. However, both municipalities are looking more toward a 2017 completion date.
“This is a big step forward for both of us,” Barcomb said. “This will not only help the residents and business owners of today, but ones in the future to further promote economic development.”
To learn more or view the plan, visit townofchamplain.com.
