Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SILVER LAKE - Low water pressure and water main leaks will soon be a thing of the past for this town.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Indiana Department of Commerce were on hand Monday at the presentation of $1.75 million dollars for an extensive renovation of the town's outdated water line system.
"Your community saw the need for improving its water system and made the effort to take advantage of this program," said Ed Thompson, rural development state director for the USDA. "I want to congratulate you all and join in your celebration."
Thompson said the Water 2000 program was initiated in 1994 following a tour President Clinton took of rural areas in the Southeast, when he saw a noticeable lack of dependable potable water systems. The president's goal is to have a safe, dependable water supply in all rural areas by 2000.
James Evans, of Triad Engineering Inc., the consulting firm for the town, said Silver Lake's water distribution system was initially built in 1925 with much smaller steel pipes and had only two significant improvement projects since then - once in 1950 and again in 1968.
"Twenty or 30 years ago, the town leaders had no idea what the consumption rates would be as we approached the year 2000," he said. "The project we propose will replace 80 percent of the current distribution system with larger polyvinyl chloride pipes, providing water at volumes and pressure levels that the town has never seen."
Additionally, the improvements will allow the town to better serve the residents living outside the town limits, primarily around Silver Lake itself.
"We had a lot of leaks and other problems with our current (water) system and virtually no water for fire protection," said Ron Fellers of the Silver Lake Improvement Co. "I want to thank the town board on behalf of the Silver Lake residents for all their work in getting this project started."
Silver Lake Fire Chief Morris Jones concurred, saying fire protection will be made much easier with the proposed expansion, doubling the capacity for fire hydrant access to life- and property-saving water, increasing the level of the public's safety.
The town's health will also be safeguarded well into the 21st century due to the water project, said Bob Weaver, of the Kosciusko County Health Department.
"In this county, we've been blessed with enormous quantities of water. But with that abundance comes a big responsibility. At the health department, we are concerned with maintaining the quality of that water," Weaver said. "This new system will go a long way toward ensuring that quality for many years to come."
According to Triad's timetable for the project, construction is to begin in the late fall of this year, with the town portion of the system being completed by June 1999 and the outlying areas completed by the late fall 1999.
The Silver Lake water project is one of 88 being funded in 38 states. The USDA reports it will spend $168 million this year on the initiative.
