$18M awarded in first round of funding for water grant program

ZANESVILLE — A total of $250 million in grants will be awarded for water and wastewater infrastructure projects through the Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Grant Program. The first round of grants announced on Oct. 26 awarded $93 million to 54 projects. Of those awards, 13 ORWA Water System members and eight Wastewater System members received funds totaling nearly $18 million. The remainder of the water infrastructure grants will be awarded in the coming weeks and will ultimately impact communities in every county in Ohio.

The grant funds awarded to ORWA Water Systems members will be used to provide planning and engineering designs of projects that will extend water lines, replace aging waterlines to provide adequate fire protection to area residences, to provide clean and reliable drinking water to currently unserved residences, to move and replace water storage tanks, to replace the media that helps to remove contaminants in the filter at the water plants, to install new mainlines to create redundancy in the water distribution system, and more.

The grant funds awarded to ORWA Wastewater Systems members will be used to install new raw sewage pumps, to replace old, outdated, and substandard sanitary sewer mains and manholes, to replace deficient ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems with new UV systems, to replace existing floating aerators at wastewater treatment plants new aeration systems that will provide complete aeration and mixing during the wastewater treatment process, for the planning and engineering design of projects that will replace deteriorated and non-functional stormwater sewer systems, to replace aging sludge ponds, and more.

The application, program guidelines, and a list of FAQ about the grant process are available at InvestinginOhiosFuture.Ohio.gov. Applications will be accepted until all the funding is depleted.