Document text
Gold Hill project upgrades water system By BUFFY POLLOCK GOLD HILL � The completion of a nearly $700,000 water project means more than just better-tasting water for local residents. It also provides drinking water for the city sports park, improved water delivery for the fire department and repaved streets. The project, which replaces a water system dating from the early 1900s, is expected to be completed by the end of March. It includes replacing 7,200 linear feet of aging steel lines with PVC pipe and upgrading the water treatment plant. The upgrades will result in a substantial increase in water pressure and will eliminate the potential threat of lead getting into the water supply, according to City Recorder Tony Paxton. The upgrades also will improve fire response, says District 3 Fire Marshal Lou Gugliotta. "The old system was unreliable for fire suppression," he says. "Some hydrants had enough (water). Some did not. We actually had to transport water. We�ll have equal capability now. We�ll be testing that as soon as they�re finished." That the project includes repaved streets also benefits the fire department, he says. "All those things help reduce the amount of response time in any emergency," Gugliotta says. Begun in December, the project was financed by a $695,137 grant from the Economic and Community Development Department. It was scheduled to be completed in February but was delayed to allow the replacement of a 720-foot section of waterline along Sams Valley Highway. That remaining piece of the project will start Monday and should be complete within three weeks, according to Public Works Director Royal Gasso. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.