State allots $11M to upgrade local water works

May 17—Five communities in Otsego and Delaware counties have received a total of $10.81 million in state funding to make improvements to water treatment facilities.

It's the local share of $638 million in grants from the state to municipalities and public authorities for 199 water infrastructure projects across New York, according to a media release from Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The city of Oneonta, village of Otego and town of Edmeston each received grants of $3 million through the state's Water Infrastructure Improvement Act.

Oneonta plans to use the funding to make improvements to the drinking water treatment plant on East Street. Otego and Edmeston will spend money on their full water systems, including water source infrastructure, distribution and transmission water lines. Otego also applied to upgrade a pump station and its water storage capability.

Richfield Springs got a smaller grant, $68,000 for a raw water transmission main pipeline, to enable the village to comply with EPA surface water treatment rules. The village of Sidney was the only Delaware County community to win a WIIA grant, $1.13 million for wastewater infrastructure improvements.

The estimated total cost for the Oneonta project is $5.05 million, reported City Administrator Greg Mattice. The state grants pay 60% of the cost of the municipal water projects. The renovation "will replace concrete basins that are deteriorating. It won't change the capacity or type of treatment," that the facility uses, Mattice said.

The Oneonta water plant was built in 1957, Treatment Plant Chief Operator Stan Shaffer said during a phone interview Monday, May 16. "We've done quite a few upgrades since about 1990 to now, but there's a couple larger upgrades that need to be done," he said.

The priority work is replacing deteriorating concrete in the water treatment basins used for flocculation and sedimentation, two steps in purifying the water, Shaffer said. During a site visit Monday, crumbling and discolored concrete was visible around the rims of the basins. The grant will also fund rehabilitation of water filtration systems.

Other improvements planned for 2022 include equipment to analyze the water's pH levels and oxidation, pipe painting and pump house improvements, according to the city's 2021 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report.

Oneonta municipal water system serves 15,954 people — the entire city and parts of the town of Oneonta. In 2021, the plant treated and pumped an average of 1.62 million gallons per day into the distribution system, the report said — a total of 540 million gallons. Of this amount, only about 2/3 was delivered to customers; the remaining 200 million gallons went to flush mains, fight fires or was lost to leaks. In addition to the planned water treatment work, Oneonta has now completed work on a five-year, $1.4 million Lower Reservoir dam improvement project, Mattice said.

That work was necessary mainly because both upper and lower reservoir "dams no longer met DEC dam regulations," Shaffer said. Stone walls that lined the spillway were replaced with poured concrete walls, and the top of the dam was raised. "But while we were at it, we also fixed or replaced all the infrastructure that brings the water from the reservoirs to the plant," he said.

"We have a fully-functional water supply system for the first time in a long time," Mattice said.

The final step, the installation of an intake access bridge, was completed in late April.

The project went over $34,000 over its initial budget. The Oneonta Common Council is set to discuss a $12,000 budget adjustment to cover final project costs at its meeting on May 17, according to the council agenda.

The city originally received a 2016 Community Development Block Grant for $641,000 through the state Office of Community Renewal for the project, and funded the remaining $759,000 through the issuance of serial bonds in 2017.

Mike Forster Rothbart, staff writer, can be reached at mforsterrothbart@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7213.