GOSHEN – The Orange County Water Authority (OCWA) announced the renewal of the Leak Detection Program support for municipal water suppliers as well as a new program for matching funds to support municipal water supply system projects.
Last funded in 2013, this program then helped conserve over 739,400 gallons of Orange County water per day and covered over 571 miles of water mains, discovering more than 197 leaks.
The county’s 2019 budget included funding for further water system leak detection projects.
The water authority announced grants totaling $63,210 to 24 municipalities. During the 2019 Orange County Leak Detection Grant Program 612 miles of municipal water mains will be surveyed at no cost to the participating municipalities.
The OCWA Board of Directors has also agreed to fund two special projects – the Orange Lake West Water Supply Feasibility Study in the Town of Newburgh in the amount of $4,700 and the Village of Cornwall-on-Hudson’s new storage tank feasibility study and inspection of its current tank on Maple Road in the amount of $6,200.
“Water systems need to be surveyed on a regular basis to find and fix where water pipes have broken or aged,” said David Church, executive director of the OCWA and commissioner of Planning. “Suppliers also need help to analyze their systems to know how much water they can supply under the drought or stressed conditions.”
This is a third round of funding from the Orange County Water Authority in nine years. Leak detection services have been offered free of charge to interested municipalities who applied. Up to 50 percent grant funding was also offered to municipal applicants for other projects within their water supply systems.
