OSWEGO – Mayor Billy Barlow announced today the City of Oswego has completed the installation of a new back-up generator at the Oswego Water Plant.
The over $1.4 million generator project has long been a goal of city government, creating a backup power source for the water plant during a power outage. Until now, the city water plant, responsible for filtering and distributing water to the entire city, only had one power source, leaving it susceptible to power outages and lack of water distribution to the community.
The backup generator installation is part of a larger, $6 million investment in the water plant over the past several years, in large part thanks to state grant funding incrementally secured over the last five years.
“The installation of a backup generator at the water plant has long been a personal goal for me, considering during strong wind, snow, or rain conditions, our water plant, located right on the shore of Lake Ontario, was at least at moderate risk of losing power,” Barlow said. “Now, we can finally rest easy knowing we have a functioning backup generator that will ensure clean drinking water and efficient distribution at all times, regardless of weather conditions.”
The mayor said prior to the installation of a backup generator, during severe weather events, the city would routinely have to reach out to New York State to have a generator brought in from Schenectady.
The logistics and limited availability of a generator would often leave the city without a backup power source. Without power, some sections of the city would lose water in four minutes while other sections could last up to twenty minutes. After twenty minutes, all city homes would be out of water.
The generator was designed by GHD engineers and installed by local electrical contractor Scriba Electric, with sub-contractors RESA, PECO, and Cummings, with support from city water department personnel.
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