VIDALIA — Vidalia residents are on track to receive cleaner drinking water in the future. The board of aldermen recently voted to apply for $50,000 grant for a water enrichment fund in the city.

City Manager Ken Walker said the grant funds will help improve the quality and accessibility of drinking water in Vidalia.

“It is going to be spent on various equipment for the treatment plant in Vidalia,” he said. “We are going to get new pumps and sampling equipment.”

Walker said the city is applying for the grant through the Office of Community Development, an organization that manages a combination of state and federal funds available for grants.

Walker said the application deadline is at the end of January, and he is very confident Vidalia will get the money for the water enrichment project.

“The money has been allocated to the city,” he said. “And it is just a matter of us letting the state know where we are going to use the money.”

Walker said the upgrade to Vidalia’s water quality will be a huge benefit to the city.

“By upgrading the pumps we are further strengthening the water system we have so we can maintain the flow and quality of water the residents deserve,” he said.

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said the upgrades are essential to the water treatment facility.

“We have some parts on our facility that need replacing that are 10 to 12 years old,” he said. “Any money that we receive will tremendously continue to upgrade our current facility, and that is money that it saves Vidalia.”

Walker said if the grant gets approved, installation of the upgrades should begin in mid-summer.

Copeland said the water enrichment project is just one of approximately 30 grants Vidalia is applying for this year.

“On the projects we are working on and the grants we are applying for, we are following through,” he said. “It is a never-ending process, and we are going to continue to apply for them.”