$6.55 Million State Loan to Fund Several Water Projects in Reading, Pa.
The Reading Area Water Authority is getting a $6.55 million, low-interest state loan to build a pumping station, replace 8,300 water meters and reline nearly two miles of an old 16-inch water main beneath 11th Street, according to the Reading Eagle.
The money is coming from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, or PENNVEST. The interest rate will be just under 1.3 percent the first five years, and just over 2.5 percent the following 15 years.
The pumping station and meter projects will get under way this fall, and the 11th Street work next spring, said Dean A. Miller, authority executive director.
The pumping station, to be built along River Road near Buttonwood Street, will increase water pressure in the 18th Ward on the west side of the Schuylkill River.
Miller said the new meters will replace old meters in homes in the authority’s District 2 in northwest Reading.
And the 11th Street pipe relining will run from Spring Street to the Neversink Reservoir near 10th and South streets.
Miller said that project will be carried out like a similar one on Cotton Street, where homes are getting water service through a temporary main while the pipe in the street is being renovated.
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