The city’s south water treatment plant is showing its age, and added volume to the facility is straining its capacity, city leaders said Monday.

Tuesday, May 15, 2001

The city’s south water treatment plant is showing its age, and added volume to the facility is straining its capacity, city leaders said Monday.

City Manager Paul Sparks asked the council to authorize construction bids for a new $2.2 million water treatment plant on the city’s south side. He told the council that immediate action was necessary before the existing 48-year-old plant collapses under the strain.

&uot;It’s not something we can really put off much longer without running the risk of a catastrophic failure of the system,&uot; Sparks said.

The plant, located near the intersection of Margaretha Avenue and Southeast Broadway, would be too costly to renovate and lacks updated filtering technology, Sparks said. Because of the expensive nature of the project, the city would have to issue bonds to pay for it. Water rate increases may also be necessary, he said.

The new plant would be constructed sometime next year on the same site adjacent to the existing plant, Sparks said.

City Engineer Dave Olson said the south plant serves the city’s southern industrial parks and neighborhoods. Moving forward on construction plans now would allow the city to keep the plant online until the new plant is ready for operation.

The new plant would use high-pressure filters to allow a higher volume of water through the plant on a daily basis, Olson said. The existing plant uses a gravity-based sand filter which isn’t as efficient, he said.

&uot;A new plant would have the technology to serve the area and expand in case of more growth,&uot; Olson said. &uot;The existing plant is strained to its capacity right now.&uot;

The council approved the measure, and bids will be solicited over the next few weeks, Sparks said, adding that the city has already paid more than $84,000 to HDR Engineering of Minneapolis for design and construction estimates.

Olson said replacing the plant is a good investment in infrastructure. The city has two other water treatment plants, one on the city’s north end and another on the west side.

&uot;We need three plants to serve the entire city. We don’t want to see one of them fail because it would be tough for the other two to keep up with demand,&uot; he said.