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Updated 4 hours ago
Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members on Wednesday approved more than $8 million in system upgrades that will increase capacity of one of its three water treatment plants and upgrade sewer lines in Hempfield and water pipes in West Newton.
“The replacement of water and sewer lines is work that we are doing that will have an impact on the entire system,” said authority manager Michael Kukura.
The upgrades include expanding capacity at the Indian Creek Water Treatment Plant in Connellsville that serves much of the southern half of the authority's water service area.
The plant is permitted to pull up to 50 million gallons of water daily from the Youghiogeny River but only has the capacity to treat up to 40 millions of water a day.
Kukura said a deal finalized last year to sell up to 3 million gallons of water a day to the Pennsylvania American Water Co. and contracts in place to service Tenaska's natural-gas power station being built in South Huntingdon means more water is needed.
Construction at the plant will enable the authority to treat an additional 8 million gallons a day, Kukura said.
The authority also unveiled plans to upgrade about 7.5 miles of sewer lines in Fort Allen and Union Cemetery sections of Hempfield. That work, expected to cost $1.3 million, will be paid with cash the authority received from the township last year as part of its purchase of Hempfield's sewer system.
“It was work scheduled by the Hempfield Township Municipal Authority, and we received their funding to do it,” said Scott Avolio, solicitor for the county authority.
Officials also outlined a $1.3 million plan to replace about a half-mile of water lines along West Main Street in West Newton.
The improvements approved Wednesday also include a $3 million project to construct a new sewer plant at the soon-to-be built Waltz Mill Industrial Park in Sewickley. That project is being financed by the county's Industrial Development Corp., Kukura said.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
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