Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County board members Wednesday approved spending more than $9.6 million to relocate and replace water lines throughout the county.
The construction projects include the replacement of 2.77 miles of older, cement and asbestos water lines in Sutersville with plastic pipes. That project is expected to cost about $5.1 million.
Another mile of cement lines will be replaced along Bovard Luxor Road in Hempfield and Unity townships, and will cost more than $735,000.
“These old, worn-out lines need to be replaced. It’s something we should continue doing,” authority Manager Michael Kukura said.
While the half-century-old pipes pose no health risks for customers, replacements are needed to correct issues of repeated leaks, Kukura said.
The authority Wednesday also authorized the relocation of water lines near the Yukon I-70 interchange in South Huntingdon as part of PennDOT’s redesign of the roadway. The state agency will pay 75% of the $3.4 million project costs. The authority will use $1.8 million of the $130 million it borrowed in 2016 for capital improvement projects to its water and sewer systems.
The authority has more than 121,000 water customers in five counties and about 26,000 sewer customers.
“We will continue to invest in our system so we have the best water,” authority board Chairman Randy Roadman said.
