ATHENS COUNTY, Ohio (WSAZ) -- Construction will begin soon on a project that will provide drinking water to 73 homes in Athens and Meigs counties.

The Tuppers Plains Water District will build 11 miles of pipeline and one pump station.

Water District General Manager Donald Poole says the project is being paid for with a combination of state and federal grants and loans, including some stimulus funding.

“If we would have not have received the stimulus money, customers would have never gotten water. They're on the fringes, they're out in between other water systems, so the likelihood of them being served anytime in the next 10 or 15 years otherwise would not have happened,” said Poole.

The construction is estimated to cost $820,000 -- not including additional costs of inspection and engineering.