The Altoona Water Authority is drawing close to the end of its dam and water treatment plant renovations in Bellwood, for which preparations began at least as far back as 2012.

The dam was finished late last year, while the treatment plant work still requires a 72-hour performance test that will begin Dec. 16 — with results determining when pipe disinfection can take place and reservoir water can begin to flow again into the system, according to authority officials.

Officials had been waiting for the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue an operating permit, they said at a recent authority meeting Nov. 20, having submitted a certificate of substantial completion a month earlier.

“We’re at their mercy,” said Jim Balliet of consulting engineering firm Gwin Dobson & Foreman at the meeting.

The operating permit arrived that day, Gwin President Mark Glenn said afterward.

The dam renovation cost $24.5 million.

The plant renovation is costing $11.12 million.

PENNVEST funded the projects.

The dam renovation was undertaken because of pressure from DEP due primarily to its spillway being undersized.

The plant renovation was undertaken due to its approaching the end of its expected functional life, along with the enforced shutdown due to the emptying of the reservoir behind the dam creating an opportune time for the work.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.