Town of Cornwall will double water capacity with new storage tower set to come online

Cornwall is set to double it's water supply thanks to a new storage tower that's almost ready to help the P.E.I. town keep up with its rapid growth.

After years of work, the finishing touches are being added to the new water tower, which will hold four million litres. The town's only other tower holds around 3.7 million litres.

Coun. Cory Stevenson, chair of Cornwall's utility committee, said this project was needed in the growing town.

"We're the 14th-fastest growing community in Canada, and the fastest-growing town in Atlantic Canada," he said.

"If we're going to continue that growth pattern and build residential and commercial development, we need more water and we need to have more capacity for storage."

Stevenson said the new tower means water can be used in emergency situations, such as for fighting fires or when natural disasters happen.

The cost of the new tower is being shared across all levels of government, and will total around $4.2 million.

Stevenson said the new tower will be fully functional in about four to six weeks. After safety checks are carried out, he said, it'll take around two weeks to fill the structure with water.

"In the near future, we're going to fill it, commission it. And we want to ensure that, you know, our wells are communicating with it," he said.

"We're going to chlorinate it, check for further deficiencies and... hopefully move forward with it being in operation."

Stevenson said the old tower will still be in use.

"This isn't a replacement, this is in addition to, so that's really important for residents... to understand that Cornwall is doubling our water supply."

Stevenson said if Cornwall keeps growing at its current rate, both towers should be able to serve the town for the next 20 years.