Consumers Illinois Water Company to Serve Valley Run Mobile Home Park; $800,000 Construction Project Extends Service Area, Adds Fire Protection & Improvements.

Business Editors

DANVILLE, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 2000

With the completion of a three-year, $800,000 construction project, Consumers Illinois Water Company (Consumers) Vermilion County Division announced today that it now serves 59 new customers in the Valley Run Mobile Home Park (The Park) in southeast Danville, previously dependent on a limited well supply.

Danville Township and Consumers created a public/private partnership for this construction project and successfully applied for an Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCCA) Community Development Assistance Program (CDAP) grant for $365,000. Consumers contributed $68,000 to the project, which provided the majority of the local matching dollars necessary to receive the grant. The additional $315,000 for the first phase of the project was provided by a 1996 CDAP grant and $198,000 as a matching dollars contribution by Consumers.

The three-year, two-phase construction project included providing water service to the Perrysville Road area. The first phase, on Griffin Street between Main Street and Perrysville Road, was completed in 1998 for approximately $500,000. Phase two, also known as the Valley Run project, included installation of a 12-inch water main interconnection between the Consumers system and the Park property -- the installation of eight-inch distribution mains throughout the Park property, three new fire hydrants, and new service lines to each individual property. Previously, the Park had no standard fire hydrants for public use and the water "mains" were two-inch galvanized water lines.

The new water mains will provide residents with ample water supply and pressure as well as the benefits of having public fire hydrants within the property. Residents throughout the area will benefit from improved fire protection as the Lynch Volunteer Fire Department will not have as far to travel to obtain water for fire fighting purposes.

CIWC serves over 55,000 Vermilion County residents in the City of Danville, Village of Tilton, the Danville Correctional Center, the Lake Boulevard and Hooton areas, the Villages of Catlin, Westville, Belgium, as well as surrounding unincorporated areas. CIWC is a subsidiary of Philadelphia Suburban Corporation (NYSE:PSC), one of the nation's largest investor-owned water utilities, headquartered in Bryn Mawr, Pa.