BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland’s senators are asking for federal funding to upgrade a 99-year-old water filtration facility in Baltimore.
On Monday, senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski toured the Montebello Filtration Plant completed in 1915. The facility is part of a water system that includes equipment and pipes that date back to 1881.
The plant can process up to 128 million gallons of water per day, drawing from the Loch Raven Reservoir and the Susquehanna River.
Art Shapiro, chief engineer for the Baltimore Department of Public Works, says it would cost between $300 million and $500 million to modernize the plant.
Cardin and Mikulski said during the tour that upgrades to the plant’s infrastructure are a necessary part of ensuring that Baltimore’s water supply stays clean and affordable for consumers.
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