Dutchess BOCES is on track to get municipal water by fall 2026, thanks to a project with the Dutchess County Water and Wastewater Authority.
“This will bring clean, municipal drinking water to campus,” said Assistant Superintendent for Business Michael Skerritt. “This means the signs indicating the water from our taps is just for handwashing will disappear. It also brings other benefits. It will help with the quality of water in our overall plumbing system.
The well water used now is hard and deteriorates the pipes, requiring daily treatment.
This project is about seven years in the making and will extend the Peach Road water main about 3,000 feet to the BOCES campus and provide water throughout the campus. Amity Construction Corp., located just down the road from BOCES, was the successful bidder and it “came in a little less expensive than we thought,” Water and Wastewater Authority Executive Director Jonathan Churins said.
While BOCES is the main beneficiary of the project, it will also serve the Dutchess County auto center located just across from BOCES on Peach Road. It is a cost split of about 97% for BOCES and 3% for the county.
This fall, Churins said the process of ordering materials, including the pipeline, a generator and pump station will begin, with the start of construction hopefully beginning in spring 2026.
As the Peach Road line is completed, BOCES will have a contractor run a line from campus to that line to connect the two systems. Skerrit said he anticipates going to bid for that work this fall or winter.
Completion is anticipated in fall 2026.
“We want the cutover to be as quick as possible to benefit the students and staff,” Skerritt said.
Once the cutover happens, Churins said extensive flushing will be required to get all of the old water out of the system, eliminate any buildup on the pipes and allow the new water chemistry to take hold.
Overall, the estimated $2.7 million project before financing will be built into the Operations and Maintenance budget over the course of 30 years.