JEANERETTE, La. — In an effort to combat the city's water quality issues, the Jeanerette Water Tower will be out of service to undergo a $2,700,000 million dollar restoration project.
After securing funds from both state and federal grants, Mayor Carol Bourgeois is looking forward to combating the water boil advisories his city faces regularly.
"We upgrade the system from A to Z so to speak by number one, we are going to take care of some piping issues that are taking place at the water plant," said Bourgeois. "With those piping issues the water that goes to the plant to the water tower, the water tank itself is being renovated and repainted, and just a complete overhaul."
KATC spoke with one Jeanerette resident Caitlyn Jackson, who says having clear water is vital to her community.
"No one can live without water, the water is despicable and I don't even like to clean up with it but we all need water so I'm gonna clean up with it, but the water is just filthy." said Jackson. "I'm going to take a bath, you put on the water and it's coming out light brown, like really? I don't know another place in Louisiana that has water like our water."
Site Manager and Field Supervisor for the restoration project Luke Johnson, is confident that these renovations will provide the residents of the city with clean water.
"The water tower is overdue for a full rehab, it needs to be fully blasted and re-coated so we are coming in and putting in a new coating system for the quality of the water," said Johnson.
The Water Tower Restoration Project can take up to 3 months to complete and the city will use half the water capacity while the cleaning is taking place.
