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City Applies For $2.5M Grant

City Applies For $2.5M Grant

Jan 15, 2019 | 1:04 PM

The City of Armstrong will be applying for 2.5 million dollars in federal grants to upgrade the Fortune Creek Water system.

Mayor Chris Pieper says the treatment project will allow the city to keep using creek water during periods of high turbidity, such as during spring run off, when they have to switch to well water.

“We have a six week period in the spring where the turbidity exceeds the drinking water standards and we have to switch to wells in Armstrong. So our goal is to be able to go through break up with this kind of screening water treatment, and we’ll be able to use creek water through break up and through turbid times where there is water storms where we have to switch back to wells,” Pieper tells Beach Radio News.

The mayor says it’s an annual problem.

“It’s been a problem forever. And it’s a problem that every water system that is on a creek in the spring has to deal with.”

Pieper says the City already uses ultra violet treatment and chlorination on its water.

“But the water is so turbid in the spring that we still can’t treat it to meet the standards, so this will improve it, and hopefully it will get us through the spring just using creek water.”

The total project cost is 2.86 million dollars.

The city’s portion of the cost will be 10%, or 280-thousand dollars, and Pieper says at this point, the upgrade would only proceed if they get the Canada Infrastructure Program grant.

“I think everybody applies for grants. We’re at the discretion at the upper level governments if we get the grant or not,” adds Pieper.