BISMARCK — The City of Minot has received a $3.7 million Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan toward replacing cast iron pipe with PVC pipe, which will reduce line breaks and water quality issues.

The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality and the North Dakota Public Finance Authority announced in a news release they have awarded 10 loans across the state for water, sanitary sewer and landfill projects from State Revolving Fund programs since May.

In addition to Minot, area recipients receiving loans are:

– Drake, $149,000 from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund toward replacing a lift station and increasing the size of a force main to reduce the number of backups.

– McLean Sheridan Rural Water District, $8.2 million from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund toward adding a second treatment train at its water treatment plant, which will increase capacity and provide redundancy. The district will also replace process pipe, equipment and controls at the water treatment plant and construct a new, larger office and garage space to support staff. This project will improve system reliability for customers.

The US Environmental Protection Agency provides part of the SRF programs’ funding, which offers below-market interest rate loans to political subdivisions for financing projects authorized under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. SRF programs operate nationwide to provide funding to maintain and improve the infrastructure that protects water resources.