ST. MARYS — The St. Marys Area Water Authority on Monday voted in favor of allowing Fox Township to use city water to replace a local supply now clouded by contamination concerns.
The vote gave approval to the creation of an emergency connection between the two systems — the first step in lifting a weeks-old boil-water advisory imposed after state inspectors discovered a potentially dangerous parasite living in the Fox Township supply.
Township supervisor and St. Marys water authority member Randy Gradizzi — who recused himself from Monday’s vote — said he will speak with an engineer and the DEP today in determining how to proceed.
He hopes to have the emergency connection established and the boil-water advisory lifted for roughly 160 customers, or 400 individuals, before Christmas.
The advisory was previously lifted for roughly 40 township customers already connected to the St. Marys system through a pre-existing pipeline.
But authority member Thomas Gerg said Monday the 1.5-inch piping won’t be large enough to accommodate the addition of hundreds more.
As a result, the emergency connection will entail the installation of 90 to 100-feet of larger, six-inch piping across Coal Hollow Road, effectively connecting all township customers to the city system.
The Toby Water Treatment Plant in Kersey is currently under review after the discovery of a Giardia Cyst in its finished product by state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) inspectors late last month.
Consumption of the parasite is linked to acute gastrointestinal illness, a condition known as giardiasis or “beaver fever” due to its association with contamination by the animals.
Fox Township previously reported no such illness as a result of the parasite’s presence there.
Once established, the township hopes the St. Marys emergency connection will buy it enough time to make necessary improvements at the Toby Water Treatment Plant in Kersey.
“The plan is to feed Toby Water until their plant can be evaluated and returned to normal operations,” said Gerg.
The exact extent and expense of the upgrades is unknown at this time, according to Gradizzi, who said the township’s primary focus remains tapping a back-up supply.
“We want to get everyone off of boiled-water, that’s our number one priority,” he said, adding restoration of the township supply could take months, or up to a year.
The cost of creating the St. Marys emergency connection remains unknown, but Gradizzi said the township budget already includes funds for water system improvements capable of covering it.
Gradizzi also said township customers will see no increase in their water bills under the arrangement, explaining the municipality will “make up the difference.”
