EPHRATA — Most of the work on the $3 million Basin Street water main replacement project is done, according to Ephrata City Administrator Wes Crago.

“The digging is done,” Crago said.

However, with most of the main line in, the work of connecting that line to existing residential and business customers, as well as fire hydrants, still needs to be done.

Also, a stretch of main water line replacement north of downtown from Fifth Avenue to Eighth Avenue Northwest still needs to be replaced.

But with the toughest work done, Crago said the project — side connections and all — should be done by the beginning of October.

“There’s still a lot of work to do,” Crago said. “There will be holes in places. Substantial completion is scheduled to be done in four weeks.”

“So we’ll see,” the city administrator added.

The work to replace much of Ephrata’s aging and leaking main water line was held up by a year-long delay in the state legislature’s passage of the state’s capitol budget, which was funding much of the project.

Next year, the Washington Department of Transportation is scheduled to repave much of Basin Street through Ephrata.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at [email protected].