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GOSHEN, Utah County — It's a story KSL-TV has followed for six years — a small town where people couldn't drink their tap water for years.
This week, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that Goshen, a town near Santaquin, would be getting a $4.1 million grant to update its water facilities. The mayor said about $3 million of it will be a loan that residents will have to pay off.
It comes after the town already fixed its drinking water issue on the south side.
"I like that there's not a lot of people out here," said Goshen resident Grant Parr. In the fields below the mountains, you'll find a small town of 900 people, nestled between farms.
"It was bad," said Parr.
Parr liked being out in the rural area. He lived in a home on the south side of town and was one of four people told their drinking water wasn't safe, resulting in them being put under a boil order in 2015.
"They gave us bottled water, but stopped doing that," he said.
Parr was happy to find out about the new grant to upgrade the system. He said the system had already been fixed, but at one point, it was terrible.
"They cut the pipes open and found dead animals in it," he said.
Never did he think he wouldn't have drinking water in Utah.
"I dealt with it before in the service," said Parr.
About two years later, the town called off that boil order, but Parr said he and his neighbors were never reimbursed. He also said the communication about the situation was poor.
Parr hopes his experience can be a lesson other towns and city leaders take into consideration.
