Domaineen-Haut to get clean tap water

After seven years under a boilwater advisory, residents in the Domaine-en-Haut sector of Vaudreuil-Dorion may finally soon be able to drink their tap water.

The city of Vaudreuil-Dorion is moving forward with a plan to expropriate a section of farmland in order to lay a pipe that would link the 35 affected homes to the municipal water system as early as next year.

Residents have been boiling or buying their drinking water since 2010.

Domaine-en-Haut, off Harwood Blvd. near the edge of St-Lazare, relies on well water that has been undrinkable for years, due to contamination by a faulty septic system.

Mayor Guy Pilon said that a portion of the cost to upgrade the water system will be subsidized, but residents of the sector will pay the difference in a levy that will be added to their property taxes, amortized over several decades.

Although residents have been advised of an approximate cost, they will have to wait until the work is completed to know the final tally.

“They don’t have too much choice — it’s for water,” Pilon said. “We will go ahead with the project and then we will see at the end of the day how much it costs.”

The water infrastructure upgrade has planned since 2014. The area’s septic system also needs to be replaced, however the specifics of that work are still to be determined.

A preliminary study indicated it would be prohibitively expensive to connect the neighbourhood to the sewer system from that area. A second study is underway to determine what the best option is to fix the septic problems.