While work on underground water supply pipes is often an inconvenience, as it tends to get in the way of regular traffic flows, the work that Aqua is doing involves an expenditure of more than $1 million dollars and will address issues that if left unattended, could taint the county’s water supply in the future.

At present, the company has three significant projects underway in Schuylkill, Tredyffrin and Willistown townships that, once completed, should increase the reliability of the water supply and lessen the chances of discolored water while simultaneously improving the resources required by local firefighters when dealing with an emergency.

“These projects are part of more than $175 million in total infrastructure improvement projects planned in 2015 in Pennsylvania,” the company said. “In 2014, Aqua Pennsylvania completed $217 million in similar projects.”

These three key projects are main replacements that convert the existing 6-inch diameter iron piping with 8-inch diameter iron pipes allowing greater water flow and cleaner, faster-flowing water. The $248,000 main replacement in Schuykill is nearing completion but the two larger projects, a $438,000 job in Tredyffrin and a similar $480,000 replacement in Willistown, will not be done until September.

Aqua America also reported this week that its second quarter operational income was up 4.7 percent at $57.4 million. Diluted income from continuing operations per share was 32 cents for the quarter, compared to 31 cents for the same quarter in 2014.

Revenues also saw a boost with 5.4 percent growth to $205.8 million from $195.3 million for the same period last year. Customer growth in both the regulated and market-based businesses accounted for approximately 65 percent of the total increase. Rates, surcharges and consumption were the bulk of the remainder.

“Success in both our regulated and market-based acquisition strategies accounted for most of the company’s increased revenue for the second quarter,” said Aqua America’s Chief Executive Officer Christopher Franklin.