Monroe Co. water system that caused years of boil water advisories replaced
CHESTNUTHILL TOWNSHIP, MONROE COUNTY (WOLF) — A Monroe County community can now let their taps run without concern.
After some serious issues, like being under a boil water advisory for years, it now has a new water system.
"No water, couldn’t flush the toilet, couldn’t even take a shower, couldn’t do the dishes," recalled Vincent Bried He's lived in Sun Valley for about five years and had had issues with the water pretty much the entire time.
"[I'd have to] buy bottled water or get a 5-gallon buckets and take them to a friends house and fill them to flush the toilet when we needed to use them," he said.
Put in place around the 60s, the system was deteriorating.
"Someone would come for once a month, throw chlorine in a vat. Whenever it ran out, it ran out," said Alan Cerep, the construction coordinator for the White Haven division of Aqua Pennsylvania.
Crack and holes were in pipes, as the buildup was slowly increasing.
"The community not only had an irregular water supply, but its supply was questionable as to how safe it was," explained Marc Lucca, the president of Aqua Pennsylvania.
But Tuesday, the ribbon was cut for a new facility.
"You often don’t see private/public partnerships work as well as it did here," said 176th district state Representative Jack Rader. "It's unusual because they’re not gonna make money here and usually private companies only really go for places where they can make a buck."
Aqua Pennsylvania made some temporary fixes last year, so the boil water advisory could be lifted, but the new system is a more permanent fix that’ll last quite some time.
"The system will be here 100 years," said Lucca.
Thanks to grants and low-interest loans, about 70 homes no longer have to fear the faucet.
The well is the only thing remaining from the old structure.
"The old system was almost abandoned that the developer had put in way back," said Chestnuthill Township manager David Albright. "It’s going to be night and day."
"There will be no more water boil advisories here," exclaimed Lucca.
The issues of the past are now water under the bridge.
"Big relief. Got water," said Bried.
The whole project cost about $2.8 million.
That includes an emergency generator to make sure if power ever cuts off, the system will still run and the water remains safe.
