Canandaigua to get federal money for water treatment
CANANDAIGUA, NY — Federal money is coming Canandaigua’s way as part of an effort to improve drinking water for the city's more than 40,000 customers.
The $1.75 million announced by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-Canandaigua, is included in the federal appropriations bill signed by President Joe Biden earlier this month. Funding will help purchase equipment at the city’s drinking water plant that will reduce harmful disinfection byproducts, City Manager John Goodwin said.
City officials, who reached out to the federal representatives a year ago for their help, are grateful to Schumer and Tenney for advocating and supporting the funding, Goodwin said.
“It’s going to help our water treatment plant become better than it already is,” Goodwin said.
Why is this important for Canandaigua water customers?
The state Department of Health requires all drinking water to be treated with chlorine.
But disinfection byproducts are harmful compounds that have been linked to liver or kidney damage and even cancer.
This equipment will reduce the harmful chemicals found in most drinking water.
Goodwin said most of the city's customers will not notice a difference in their water, which has won honors in the past for its taste.
The city supplies water for city and town Canandaigua residents, and residents in the towns of Bristol, Hopewell, Farmington and Manchester, the village of Manchester and the Wayne County Water Authority.
“Our water supplies a lot of residents of Ontario and Wayne counties with water,” stated Peter Virkler, the city’s water plant chief operator. "This system will improve the quality of that water.”
How will the Canandaigua water treatment plant project work?
Aerators and mixers will be installed in water storage tanks at the water plant.
When the water in the storage tanks is mixed and aerated, the disinfection byproducts known as TTHM are volatilized and leave the water, reducing their concentration, Goodwin said.
“In layman’s terms, they blow bubbles in the water,” Goodwin said. “This will be a new technology in our water storage tanks that we do not currently have but the technology has been used for years in numerous other places and it’s been successful. It will be successful for us as well.”
Will city of Canandaigua funds be used for the water treatment project?
The federal money is expected to be available later in the year.
Goodwin said the city is already designing and developing the disinfection byproduct treatment system and anticipates starting construction of the system in August or September.
The project still needs to go out to bid, but Goodwin is confident the federal money will likely cover all or most of the bill. Some city dollars may go into the project, depending on the cost.
Canandaigua City Council had recently approved bonding money for the project, so the news of the funding is welcomed.
"Now we don’t have to bond for it,” Goodwin said.
This article originally appeared on MPNnow: Canandaigua NY to get federal money for water treatment
