WATERVLIET, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The City of Watervliet has received $5M in water quality grants. The grants, three in total, will provide funding for buying the land adjacent to and the boarders of the Watervliet Reservoir, eliminating the remaining sanitary and storm sewers within the community, and replacing 13,150 linear feet of sanitary sewers, some being 100 years old.

The first grant will look to purchase 58 acres of land that borders the Watervliet Reservoir. Mayor Charles Patricelli says his primary focus is and has always been to protect the quality of the water supply source. The land bought with this grant will stay undeveloped and act as a natural buffer to the reservoir. This Water Quality Improvement Projects (WQIP) grant totals $480,000.

The second grant will support the separation and elimination of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the City’s sewer system. CSOs are a mixture of rainwater and wastewater that negatively impacts water quality, which are subject to national pollution requirements (NPDES) and the clean water act.

The third grant will help fund the replacement of 13,150 linear feet of sanitary sewer lines that have been identified as substandard or failing. Some of the lines identified as the most serious were around the 24th Street, 23rd Street, and 12 Street sections.