x
Breaking News
More () »

Village of Fredonia to start making repairs to water filtration system next week

Residents were told this week they would have to boil their water because it didn't meet the state's standards and could have 'disease-causing organisms.'

FREDONIA, N.Y. — According to Fredonia Mayor Doug Essek, the Village will start fixing the problem on Monday and should be done by next Friday. 

That means residents will finally be able to drink water their tap water again and not have to boil it anymore.

In the meantime, a State of Emergency was declared by the village on Saturday.

Those $30,000 repairs will be made to the filtering system.

There will also be repairs done at the water treatment plant next week.

Essek says COVID-19 is the reason the village had to put a hold on fixing them back in the spring.

"With all the COVID-19 delays and getting supplies and contractors being stopped in regards to COVID-19, that created the delays to get it done back in March or April, when it was originally scheduled," Essek said.

This week, the Chautauqua County Health Department sent out a boil water advisory to let residents know it was unsafe to drink because it didn't meet the state's standards and may have "disease-causing organisms."

This isn't the first time Fredonia has had an issue in providing clean water to its customers.

2 On Your Side has been told in the past it's a result of "decades of neglect" to the water delivery system.

These minor repairs are actually part of a larger project to fix that.

Essek says engineers have estimated it to cost $30 million and his hope is to have it completed in three years. 

"We've had a number of issues with water main breaks due to a lot of the mains that were breaking were put in at a similar time. What we're going to be doing this year is identifying and isolating those areas and create projects to start repairing and replacing those water mains," Essek said.

The Village of Fredonia on Friday is distributing out bottled water at the Department of Public Works until 7 p.m.

They will continue Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to noon, then again from 4 to 7 p.m.

Before You Leave, Check This Out