NORWICH – The ongoing project to update the city’s water treatment facility has taken another step forward, this time with support from key state legislatures for the funding necessary to break ground on the new facility.

Planning for the project, which began in 2007 with plans to replace the now 109-year-old water treatment plant currently being used on Rexford Street, gained the backing of United State Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) this month. A letter written by the senator urging the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development Program (USDA-RD) to provide the city with a $5.02 million Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant was submitted two weeks ago in hopes of securing funds needed to take the project to the next level.

“The (Water Treatment Plant) is integral to the city. Its replacement is continent upon the ability to secure the aforementioned funding. Without the Grant/Loan package, the City of Norwich simply cannot undertake the replacement of their outdated surface water treatment plant,” the letter states. Schumer noted the project would also provide short-term jobs as the city rebuilds its aging infrastructure to sustain industrial and economic growth.

“The current water treatment plant in Norwich is over a century old and hampering the city’s ability to attract new businesses,” Schumer added in a press release. “Without this USDA funding, the City of Norwich’s plan to build a new water treatment plant will be left out to dry.”