(Story by Beaver County Radio News Correspondent Curtis Walsh)

The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa held a ground breaking ceremony today to celebrate the construction of a brand new water filtration plant to improve the quality of their water.  Attendees gathered to hear speeches made by Municipal Authority Chairman Mathew Mottes and Aliquippa mayor Dwan B. Walker. Chairman Mottes said, “6 years ago, if you would have said that the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa was going to build a 14 million dollar water filtration plant, everybody would’ve laughed, now today it’s real”.  Following the speeches, the beginning of demolition of the former administration building started, the site where the new plant will be built.  They stated that the plant will cost around 14 million dollars to complete and they are excited that it is finally happening.  The current plant was built in 1941 and has had water quality issues in recent years.  With the new plant on the way, residents can look forward to water of much higher quality.  The administration building was originally built in 1905 for the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company, but has served the Municipal Authority for the last 40 years. Robert Steffes, Vice Chairman of the Municipal Authority, said “this is all about water quality, they’re not doing this to make money, it’s to give the people water of quality”.  When I asked Mayor Walker how he felt seeing the building coming down, he said “happy, it’s finally happening”. The new filtration plant is expected to take around 2 years to complete.  Audio and video can be found below.

Chairman Mottes

Mayor Walker