NORWICH – Tougher drinking water standards would require the city to build a new multi-million dollar filter plant in the next five to ten years, a city official confirmed Thursday.
Federal funding will have to cover most of the cost, city Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson said.
The city’s 104 year-old facility is currently in compliance with federal regulations, Ivarson explained, but the aging sand and stone filters would not meet the stricter particle and chlorine byproduct standards he expects will be implemented in or around 2013.
An official from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which sets the water standards, did not respond to a request for confirmation of the possible regulation changes by press time this morning.
Public Works is proposing to locate the new filter plant just south of the city’s lower reservoir on state Rt. 23, less than one mile up the road from the current facility’s location.
Initial estimates put the cost of a new filter plant at $8.5 million. Ivarson said the city’s engineering firm is currently examining ways to bring the price down 40 to 50 percent. An updated engineer’s report will be presented Oct. 22 to the Common Council.
“We feel the project, in the $4 to $5 million range, is more acceptable for the city,” said Ivarson, “with substantial grants.”
Federal stimulus money for water projects could fund 50 to 70 percent of construction, Ivarson told a group of city officials and Third Ward Alderman John Deierlein Thursday. He says the city cannot afford to pay for the upgrade without federal assistance.
“If we can’t get substantial grant funding, the new facility would be cost prohibitive,” said Ivarson.
Deierlein said Thursday evening that the city cannot put off making improvements to the filter plant and other crucial aspects of Norwich’s infrastructure.
“I think in the past, the city, in an effort to keep taxes low, was kind of putting off the big ticket items related to infrastructure, and things like that have the tendency to come back and bite us down the road. I’m a big advocate of planning for the future,” said Deierlein. “We might have to pay higher taxes, but its the city’s job to provide infrastructure. Sometimes that means making tough decisions, and we, the taxpayers, do have to invest in our future.”
The city plans to sit down with representatives from USDA Rural Development, the agency administering project funds, following the October council meeting to identify grant eligibility and application criteria.
“If the state or federal government is handing out money, I want Norwich to be at the head of the line, and (Finance Director William Roberts) and Carl have done a great job in the past putting those things together,” said Deierlein. “We’ve got to make progress and get up to speed. If we can do this with very little impact on the taxpayers here, my thinking is lets go for it.”
Situated on a hill, the proposed location for the new facility would allow roughly 60 percent of the city’s water supply to remain gravity-fed. That will spare the city from purchasing, maintaining and relying on new pumps.
The filter plant can’t receive state funding at the moment because it hasn’t been assessed any violations, which is how the eligibility criteria is designated.
“The people that are trying their hardest are being penalized,” said Ivarson. “Those letting their systems deteriorate are being rewarded.”
The city has three surface water supplies: Chenango Lake, the upper reservoir, and lower reservoir. Wells 3 and 4, located off Borden Avenue, are ground water supplies. A new membrane filtration system would allow the city to utilize more it’s surface supplies, a 2008 engineering report states. The ratio is currently 50:50.
Chlorine, used as a disinfectant in drinking water, can create a harmful byproduct when it mixes with organic material. Excess amounts of that byproduct, called Trihalomethane, over many years can cause problems in the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system, and increase the risk of getting cancer, according to the EPA.