Water improvements are coming to one Sussex County town.
Last month, Selbyville residents overwhelmingly approved a referendum authorizing the town to issue up to $6 million in bonds for water treatment facility upgrades.
The 140-12 vote also approved helping to pay for a new water storage tank.
Selbyville councilman Richard Duncan is the executive director for Delaware Rural Water and the town’s water commissioner
“The referendum was set because for the past several years with all the new construction going on and development and so forth, our water demand was decreasing as was our water pressure," Duncan said. "We added an estimated 1,200 new homes in our town limits.”
Duncan says that’s put a strain on the town’s distribution system, creating issues with pressure and storage for fire protection.
“We've been working with the State drinking water revolving fund program and we’re going to take the loan out for that portion of the tank," he said. "It’s going to help us with our pressure problem and additional storage.”
Duncan says the project consists of two major components.
“One…the tank is probably going to cost us an estimated $3.8 to $4.3 million at today’s costs. And the longer we wait, the more it will go up. And then about $1.2 million for the backwash recovery system that we need to upgrade.”
The next step in the process is a presentation to the State’s Water Infrastructure Advisory Council in September. The Council initiates, develops and recommends drinking water projects to the General Assembly.
