PORT TOWNSEND — Those attending Thursday’s ceremonial groundbreaking for Port Townsend’s new $13 million water treatment plant expressed relief that the project is finally about to be built.
“It’s going to be a durable, state-of-the-art water system far into the future,” Mayor David King said after he and other city officials tossed a few shovelfuls of dirt.
“I’m real pleased and real proud to get to this point with the system, and I look forward to seeing the water coming out at the end of it.”
King then joked, “Hopefully, there’ll be some,” referring to the drought that prompted water restrictions in the city.
Responded Ken Clow, public works director: Water filtration and water supply “are two separate issues.”
About 30 people were on hand for the ceremony. They included City Council members, construction and design personnel, and city staff.
The facility is expected to be completed Oct. 31, 2016.
It will be built in two phases: the main plant and a new storage reservoir to replace the current one, which is not earthquake proof.
The facility at 2087 20th St. is not publicly accessible for security reasons. Public tours will be offered after it is completed.
In his remarks, King said City Manager David Timmons “has done a fabulous job finding financing so we can afford this.”
The construction of the new facility is funded with a combination of grants and low-interest loans to be paid off within 20 years, along with a monthly capital surcharge fee.
The monthly fee assesses each customer within city limits $18 and each outside the city $21.60.
These rates will respectively increase to $24 and $28.80 in 2018.
The fees will remain in place until the loan is paid off, Timmons said.
Timmons said a low-interest loan from the state Department of Commerce saved the city $19 million.
“The financing we were able to arrange with the state is the equivalent of interest-free financing,” Timmons said.
“I’m pretty pleased with that.”
Construction of the facility was required by a federal regulation to remove all traces of cryptosporidium, a microscopic parasite that can cause diarrheal disease.
Timmons said the project is a year behind schedule because the city had previously planned ultraviolet treatment to meet the federal requirements for unfiltered water but that in September 2013, the City Council changed the treatment approach to ultrafiltration because of the costs associated with new watershed management criteria required by the state Department of Health.
The new plant also will change the path of the water for Port Townsend.
Currently, the water is piped from the Big Quilcene and Little Quilcene rivers to the City Lake reservoir, where it is chlorinated, then routed either to the Port Townsend Paper Corp. or to the distribution facility at the site of the future filtration plant.
In the new system, the water will bypass City Lake and go directly to the facility, where chlorination and filtration will occur.
Under the new system, the Port Townsend Paper Corp. will need to construct its own water conduit that will be located before the water goes to the new facility.
Timmons said he was personally relieved that the project is moving ahead.
“We were talking about this back in 1999 when I was hired,” he said.
“It’s been a long time coming.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.