Pilot keeps filter project on track
NORWICH – The City of Norwich is in the early stages of a pilot study that will help local officials determine how to best operate the $5 million water filtration facility slated for construction later this year.
According to City of Norwich Department of Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson, the pilot study, which has been underway for three weeks, will help the department determine the best combination of chemicals and number of filters needed for the new filtration plant. Because some chemical combinations can actually be damaging toward the health of residents, it's important the city gets it right before building and operating the new facility, he explained.
“Right now, we're using different chemicals to see which ones will react best,” he said. “The pilot will tell us if the technology we're looking to use will produce the results we're looking for.”
The pilot program is scheduled to run three more weeks before operators examine data and pass results along to Delaware Engineering, the Oneonta based engineering firm that in December, 2012, was awarded the construction bid for the new filtration plant.
Though the pilot filtration study is on a much smaller scale than proposed filtration facility – 2,000 gallons of water per day as opposed to the 1.2 million gallons per day to be run through the facility when it's complete – Ivarson said results will help engineers in the planning stages.
“It will give engineers a lot of information for the exact sizes they need to build a new plant,” he added.
The pilot filtration program is scheduled to run a total of six weeks and marks just one more of several major milestones in the filtration project over the last year. In June, 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture' Rural Development Program (USDA-RD) awarded the City of Norwich a $5.02 million water and waste water disposal loan and grant for replacement of the 109-year-old water treatment facility currently in use on Rexford Street. According to city administrators, a $4.02 million loan and $1 million grant will aid construction of a new filtration facility below Plymouth Reservoir near state Route 23.
Ivarson said construction could begin by the fall, pending approval from the USDA-RD, the New York State Department of Health and the state Department of Conservation.
Federal funding was awarded only after the city followed through with a request from the USDA-RD to lower costs of the project in 2012. Engineers cut the price tag from $9.4 million to the current $5.02 million by reducing the size of the facility from 5,000 square feet to 3,900, and utilizing a pre-engineered building in lieu of a masonry building. In addition, the city eliminated replacement of the water storage tank on Wheeler Avenue as part of the project – a decision that, by itself, lowered costs by approximately $2.2 million.
“The entire project is looking good so far,” added Ivarson, noting there have been no unexpected delays in the project to date.
Construction a new filtration plant is nearly seven years in the making. The Norwich City Common Council first heard a proposal to build a new facility in 2007. Local, state and federal legislators pushed for federal funding for years, citing the inability of the century-old plant to increase capacity due to its deteriorating condition, which in turn, hampers the city's efforts to attract new industries.
According to City of Norwich Department of Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson, the pilot study, which has been underway for three weeks, will help the department determine the best combination of chemicals and number of filters needed for the new filtration plant. Because some chemical combinations can actually be damaging toward the health of residents, it's important the city gets it right before building and operating the new facility, he explained.
“Right now, we're using different chemicals to see which ones will react best,” he said. “The pilot will tell us if the technology we're looking to use will produce the results we're looking for.”
The pilot program is scheduled to run three more weeks before operators examine data and pass results along to Delaware Engineering, the Oneonta based engineering firm that in December, 2012, was awarded the construction bid for the new filtration plant.
Though the pilot filtration study is on a much smaller scale than proposed filtration facility – 2,000 gallons of water per day as opposed to the 1.2 million gallons per day to be run through the facility when it's complete – Ivarson said results will help engineers in the planning stages.
“It will give engineers a lot of information for the exact sizes they need to build a new plant,” he added.
The pilot filtration program is scheduled to run a total of six weeks and marks just one more of several major milestones in the filtration project over the last year. In June, 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture' Rural Development Program (USDA-RD) awarded the City of Norwich a $5.02 million water and waste water disposal loan and grant for replacement of the 109-year-old water treatment facility currently in use on Rexford Street. According to city administrators, a $4.02 million loan and $1 million grant will aid construction of a new filtration facility below Plymouth Reservoir near state Route 23.
Ivarson said construction could begin by the fall, pending approval from the USDA-RD, the New York State Department of Health and the state Department of Conservation.
Federal funding was awarded only after the city followed through with a request from the USDA-RD to lower costs of the project in 2012. Engineers cut the price tag from $9.4 million to the current $5.02 million by reducing the size of the facility from 5,000 square feet to 3,900, and utilizing a pre-engineered building in lieu of a masonry building. In addition, the city eliminated replacement of the water storage tank on Wheeler Avenue as part of the project – a decision that, by itself, lowered costs by approximately $2.2 million.
“The entire project is looking good so far,” added Ivarson, noting there have been no unexpected delays in the project to date.
Construction a new filtration plant is nearly seven years in the making. The Norwich City Common Council first heard a proposal to build a new facility in 2007. Local, state and federal legislators pushed for federal funding for years, citing the inability of the century-old plant to increase capacity due to its deteriorating condition, which in turn, hampers the city's efforts to attract new industries.
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