BY STEVE JONES
Staff writer
The city’s water filtration plant on Stokes-Lee Center Road in the Town of Lee will close water valves on the large reservoir Friday and Tuesday in order to connect the new ultraviolet disinfection building to the distribution system.
Customers in north Rome may experience low water pressure and discolored water during this time, the city’s Department of Public Works has warned.
The work to attach the new system is scheduled for 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Tuesday until 8 a.m. Wednesday.
Residents are advised to call the water department if they have any questions at 339-7777, city officials said.
The ultraviolet system is being installed to satisfy federal regulations to upgrade water safety at the Frank Clark Water Filtration Plant.
Under the administration of then Mayor Joseph R. Fusco Jr., the city chose ultraviolet filtering on the existing reservoirs — two containment ponds that hold a total of 65 million gallons of filtered water.
The city has put a building on site that will use ultraviolet filtering to re-filter the water from the reservoirs before it goes into the pipelines that bring it to customers.
The contractor for the work is C.O. Falter Construction of Syracuse, for $6,245,101.
Rome’s system provides water to about 32,000 customers inside and outside the city. In addition to Rome, the system serves customers in the towns of Lee, Floyd and Westmoreland.
These customers use about 9 million gallons of water daily on average, according to water department figures. The plant filters water on pace with usage, but can filter up to 18 million gallons daily if needed.