The Augusta Canal was emptied Jan. 27 for the first time in nine years to allow contractors to remove part of the bank and install new water lines linking the city's Waterworks Pumping Station with the raw water treatment plant on Highland Avenue.
The project was one of the final segments of a multiyear, $68 million upgrade to the city's drinking water system that is designed to ensure ample supplies through 2050.
The water system now serves more than 68,000 customers. The primary supplier of drinking water is the Highland Avenue plant, which can produce 45 million gallons per day and eventually will be expanded to produce as much as 60 million gallons per day.
The work took longer than expected because of heavy rainfall that kept funneling stormwater into the channel, where temporary dams helped keep the work area dry.
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