PUC OKs deal for Aqua to supply water to Sharpsville, South Py

By Michael Roknick
Herald Business Editor

SHARPSVILLE, SOUTH PYMATUNING TOWNSHIP August 07, 2008 06:22 pm

— It’s official: Aqua Pennsylvania Inc. will be supplying Sharpsville and South Pymatuning Township with water.
On Thursday, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission approved a 20-year deal whereby Aqua’s Sharon treatment plant will serve as the sole water supplier for Sharpsville. The borough’s water system serves about 7,500 people in Sharpsville and neighboring South Pymatuning.
After a fierce and often noisy debate, Sharpsville officials agreed in May to ink a contract to buy bulk water from Aqua. The deal ended a quest by some Sharpsville council members to build a new $10 million treatment plant to replace an aging water plant. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had mandated that Sharpsville build a new plant or get its water elsewhere.
Officials nixed the construction project because of a lack of funds.
South Pymatuning officials balked at building a plant because the township counts only 150 water customers out of about 2,800 residents, but would have had to pony up $4 million of the cost to build a plant under a bulk water agreement it has with the borough.
With the PUC’s approval now in hand, Aqua will spend about $500,000 to connect the two systems. The company will install a water meter on Mercer Avenue and another on Ridge Avenue in Sharpsville, said Robert Liptak, president of northern operations for Aqua America. A main water line also will be installed on Pierce Avenue to Seventh Street in the town.
Aqua expects to begin delivering the necessary 700,000 gallons of water daily to Sharpsville before the end of the year –– an aggressive time schedule, Liptak acknowledged.
“I really don’t want to get into the winter with this,’’ Liptak said.
One final regulatory hurdle remains: DEP must approve technical features of the changeover, such as how Sharpsville’s treatment plant will be deactivated.
“We’ve been in contact with DEP all along on this, so I’m ready to go ahead with this,’’ Liptak said.