Jeanerette is one step closer to cleaner water with the completion of the town’s water tower restoration.

The Board of Aldermen voted last week to accept the substantial completion of the project, which gave the water tower a new paint job amongst other piping renovations that will begin to alleviate water discoloration that has affected the community.

Work on the project began in April and included draining the tower and using service pumps throughout Jeanerette during construction. The upgrades came at the same time as improvements to Jeanerette’s water plant, and Bourgeois said he expects to have additional renovations to the water wells, service pumps and softeners in the coming months.

“It’s certainly a big step in the overall rehabilitation of our water system,” Bourgeois said. “The water tower distributes all the water to our residents so we’re really happy to have gotten the funds and I was certainly aggressive in pushing that forward.”

Water tower rehabilitation was discussed all the way back to 2019 during the town’s fiscal administration. Fiscal administrator David Greer had said water tower improvements were a top priority back then and necessary for water improvements.

Although Jeanerette’s water has passed muster under state and local regulations, there has been discoloration experienced by residents in the past due to the tower and age of the infrastructure system.

The mayor said he is still predicting that residents will see an improvement in water quality by April when the additional renovations to the system are completed.