PAINESVILLE, Ohio — At Painesville’s Water Treatment Plant, critical water infrastructure upgrades will soon be addressed thanks to a new $330,000 state grant.
“We’re about receiving the funding. This allows us to move forward with an important project for the water department,” said City Manager Doug Lewis.
With these funds, the water division plans to build a new storage area sometime late next year.
Then, Orin McMonigle says they will move these chlorine gas cylinders from this room down to this empty space on the first floor of the water treatment facility.
“They do weigh over 3,000 lbs. but you can roll them, but you can’t roll one up the stairs,” said Water Superintendent Orio McMonigle.
The water division tells News 5 these improvements are necessary because right now, they have to lift 3,000-pound cylinders up to the second floor, which they say could be risky.
“That presents a certain hazard because if you’re lifting them up on a crane and one drop, you have a chance of a cylinder being damaged and gas released,” said McMonigle.
If this happens, McMonigle says it can be dangerous since chlorine is used as a disinfectant to kill bacteria in the water, and it could impact people’s health.
But this new storage room will help prevent that and keep employees and consumers, like this long-time business in the city’s downtown, safe.
“We use it in our food, and people ingest it so obviously for the health of our customers and health of everybody in general,” said Gartman Model Bakery baker Chasidy Drain.
For more than 100 years – Gartman Model Bakery has been using a lot of water to satisfy people’s sweet tooth with this delicious variety of pastries, so they tell News 5 they’re glad the city is prioritizing these upgrades.
“Water is just good for you,” said Drain.
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