St. George's receives water upgrade

The Town of St. George's held a public meeting recently to celebrate the new water system the town now has in place.

Mayor Fintan Alexander was pleased so many of the community's residents came out to share in the good news.

"We wanted to show them first hand how it operates, and also to give them assurance we have good, quality water, because that's always a concern," he said.

Darrell Mills, a project engineer working with the systems' primary consultants, addressed the gathered congregation of residents.

"You are one of only a handful of communities within the province to access money through the Green Municipal Investment Fund," he said.

"The reason why you got it is because this project is so complicated and so highly innovative," he said.

He later explained that because of sub-surface soil in the St. George's area, the containments that exist beneath the soil are more extreme than in the Stephenville region.

"That's why this town has 17 wells drilled over the last 30 years that are no longer in production," he said.

Mayor Alexander said part of the project's allocated funds will go towards low-flow showerheads and also to put about fifty water metres homes strategically chosen.

"Those metres will be metering the consumption and it will tell the town and the consultant how much we're using," he said. "Maybe too much or what have you. That way we can inform the people to conserve."

Conserving the good water the town has was also key in Mr. Mills' comments to residents.

"You have a very limited supply of high quality water," he said. "Don't use it. If you have a leaky tap - fix it. Don't leave your garden hose running in your driveway when you are washing your car. All the small stuff like that."

Mayor Alexander says residents have given the town nothing but positive feedback since the new water system came online in March.

"Jokingly, a lady said to me one day that she got up and had a shower and could see her feet in the tub," he said with a laugh.

The town's total investment in the cost-shared project was about $350,000 with the provincial and federal governments also helping to cost-share the project.

reporter@thegeorgian.ca