Water Treatment Plant Grand Opening
Held October 29, 2005

In October and November, 2003, two new wells were bored in the field just east of the water treatment plant. These wells are roughly 130 feet in depth with each well pump capable of approximately 150 gallons per minute output. They were put into service in 2004.

Work began on the new treatment plant in early January 2004 with much of the time being spent excavating the area and preparing it for the construction of the reservoir portion of the building. Thousands of feet of steel were woven into a floor mat, which was covered with approximately 30 yards of cement. The crew installed reinforcing steel for the top of the reservoir (which doubles as the floor of the treatment plant). The cement ceiling/floor was poured to a depth of 16”. The reason for requiring the extreme floor thickness is the 2 approximately twelve foot tall, nine foot diameter, 1/2 inch thick steel tanks which are filled to the top with a mixture of specialized pyralucite sand with an anthracite cap. Nanofiltration removes the components that make up the hardness by forcing the product through a very fine membrane.

Construction was completed in October, 2005. Once testing of equipment was completed and all necessary adjustments were made to ensure that the other equipment was performing optimally, the softening process began. Improved water quality was seen quickly. The softening process was implemented in stages over a period of several months so that the mineral buildup in the public and private water lines would disappear slowly and not cause the “brown” or “yellow” water associated with large discharges of mineral buildup.

You will find following a comparison chart of water hardness in the two most common measurement standards:

You can see just how much improvement has been made now that we have reached our target rates compared to the old water treatment plant (pre-nanofiltration) measurements.

Drinking Water Quality and Compliance.pdf