U.S. EPA, Sykes highlight federal money helping Canton water project

CANTON – Canton’s water and the ways the city and its employees work to protect it and keep it clean for its 42,500 customers in Stark County were celebrated Thursday by federal, state and local officials.

U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes and Bruno Pigott, deputy assistant administrator for water for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, toured Canton’s Northeast Water Treatment Plant to learn about its operations and about the $46 million improvement project underway at the Sugar Creek Water Treatment Plant, which supplies roughly half of Canton’s daily drinking water.

“Outdated, aging water systems have been costly for our communities, resulting in higher costs for ratepayers and at worst, dangerous drinking water conditions,” said Sykes, a Democrat representing Ohio's 13th congressional district that includes northwest Stark County, Summit County and portions of southwest Portage County.

“This investment will keep water rates affordable, protect our drinking water, and create good-paying union jobs.”

The Northeast Treatment Plant on Harrisburg Road NE also served as the venue for Sykes, Pigott, Ohio EPA representative David Emerman, Canton Mayor William V. Sherer II, Water Superintendent Tyler Converse and international and local American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees leaders to recognize the Canton Water Department's employees and highlight how the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has made large infrastructure projects possible. Of the water department's 100 workers, roughly 85% are members of AFSCME Local 2937.

“The best part of these investments is that they don’t just serve our immediate communities, they serve generations to come,” said Pigott, who emphasized the importance of the partnership between federal, state and local officials and the union workers. “We will provide clean, safe water and jobs for community members for decades.”

Of the $50 billion approved in the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure improvements, $767 million has been allocated so far for Ohio’s clean water and water infrastructure projects.

Emerman, the chief community officer for the Northeast Region of the Ohio EPA, said the agency uses some of that funding to provide state revolving loans at lower-than-market interest rates, which saves utility providers and municipalities, such as Canton, thousands of dollars.

“When a resident turns on their faucet, there is a rightful expectation that clean, safe drinking water is coming out of that,” he said. “But I’m not sure that every resident fully appreciates how much work and complexity goes into making that water come out clean from their faucet.”

Canton is using the state revolving loan program to fund the $46 million in upgrades at the Sugar Creek Water Treatment Plant and wellfield on state Route 212 in Tuscarawas County. The loan will be repaid through the money the water department collects from the rates paid by customers, which include residents outside of the city's limits such as Perry, Plain and Canton townships and the villages of East Canton, Beach City and Hartville.

The upgrades, which began a year ago and are about 40% complete, will renovate the entire facility, replace aging equipment and structures, provide redundancy and flexibility and address safety and code requirements. The project is expected to be completed by October 2025.

Canton water service shop, Cromer reservoir also to be improved

Other city water projects that were highlighted Thursday include the nearly $12 million renovation and expansion of the water department service shop and the $26 million replacement of the Cromer Water Storage Reservoir.

The service shop project includes improvements to the building’s electric, plumbing, communications, shelving, shop spaces and heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, as well as the addition of a more than 25,000-square-foot garage to protect the department’s vehicles, equipment and material from being exposed to the weather. Construction is expected to begin this summer and be completed by the end of 2025.

“It’s one of the last things we need to do on these grounds to be in great shape for another 20 to 25 years,” Converse said.

Demolition of the existing reservoir, which has not been renovated since its construction in 1920, is expected to begin at the end of 2025. A new cylindrical concrete storage reservoir that is roughly half the size of the reservoir’s current 15-million-gallon capacity will be built.

Canton, which first started providing drinking water in 1869, maintains the second-largest groundwater system in Ohio behind Dayton, which relies on the Miami Valley Buried Aquifer. Most cities use surface water.

Reach Canton Repository staff writer Kelli Weir at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: U.S. EPA, Sykes highlight federal money helping Canton water project