SEQUIM –– Workers from Kamin Excavation of Shelton have erected a silt fence around the northwest corner of the Water Reuse Demonstration Site north of Carrie Blake Park in preparation for starting a $273,790 project to use treated wastewater to recharge groundwater supplies.

Excavators will start digging Friday, Dave Kamin, owner of Kamin Excavating, said Wednesday.

The firm is digging holes to create an infiltration basin facility at the park.

Pipes, sewer water

The basin will include underground pipes that will release reclaimed sewer water, treated to a Class A status, into the soil.

Construction crews will work from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Pedestrian traffic will be limited around the construction area.

The goal, according to city Public Works Director Paul Haines, is to recharge the aquifer by filtering excess reclaimed water through the soil into groundwater.

A monitoring well also will be drilled to allow officials to test the water.

Kamin said five or six workers will be employed during construction, which should be finished by the end of June.

The project is part of a $1 million water reuse demonstration funded through a grant from the state Department of Ecology.

Overall, the project will increase the fish pond in the park by three times and will create 1.4 acres of basins for infiltration.

Haines said the project is designed to show groundwater can be recharged at various spots in the city.

It is also part of a plan to reuse the reclaimed wastewater to hold down the amount of irrigation water the city needs.

Eventually, city officials hope, reclaimed water will run alongside water and sewer lines so residents can use the wastewater for irrigation.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.