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Delphos taps into new water system
DELPHOS — In an era of downtown revitalization and monumental street maintenance, the city took a long-awaited step forward Thursday when the reservoir became residents’ new source of water. This positions the city to be “in the game,” according to Mayor Jerry Neumeier.
Various officials were on hand when the water treatment plant “switch” was “flipped” by the click of a mouse at the hand of City Council President Bob Ulm.
“This is an important step. However, the goal now will be to use these water-related facilities as a tool to develop the community and provide new jobs to those who live here. We still have a lot of work to do,” Ulm said.
The mayor indicated that diligent efforts of many people at several levels of government and the private sector worked together over several years in order to make the community’s dream a reality.
“A lot of private individuals, council, the administration and our elected officials worked hard; we put eight years in to this. The community will be very proud of what it has. This is a fantastic accomplishment; it’s very exciting and rewarding to see the results of our efforts,” Neumeier said.
Water Superintendent Tim Williams says water softeners should be set to 120 parts per million and reverse osmosis will no longer be needed.
Remaining hard water will pass through the underground system over the next week. Then, softened water will be phased in over the next 4-6 months as the softening process is introduced incrementally, according to the mayor.
Discoloration may be seen at household taps over the first week but will disappear as residents allow water to flow through their pipes.
During the new treatment process, ultra-violet light and activated charcoal are used to treat bacteria, chemicals and microbials in the water.
The water softening process being introduced is designed by the latest in technology. The facility uses a two-stage softening system and then the filtered water is disinfected, flouridated and treated for corrosion control before being discharged into the distribution system.
The new water system comes with a price. The water portion of residents’ utility bills have increased in the last two years with additional increases slated for 2008 and 2009.
In 2006, water prices increased 77 cents per 100 cubic feet; 2007 — 77 cents per 100 cubic feet. In 2008, water rates will increase 74 cents per 100 cubic feet and an increase of 64 cents per 100 cubic feet is set for 2009.
The average increase per household after the final rate increase is $127 per quarter or approximately $42 per month. The average household uses 1,700 cubic feet of water per quarter.
Williams describes how the process works at the new treatment plant.
“The Delphos Water Treatment plant is designed to remove turbidity, taste and odor causing compounds soluble organic contaminates, hardness causing compounds and microbial contaminates from the Little Auglaize River water supply and deliver a high quality, bacterialogically safe and uninterrupted supply of potable water for municipal, commercial and industrial use. The water treatment plant is designed with a treatment capacity of 3.75 million gallons per day. The design average rate is 1.875 million gallons per day,” Williams said.
“The Delphos Water treatment facility is a conventional, two-stage softening, surface water treatment plant employing preoxidation, first-stage ferric sulfate treatment with rapid mixing, flocculation and sedimentation, and second-stage lime softening followed by recarbonation and rapid sand filtration. The filtered water is disinfected, fluoridated, and treated for corrosion control before discharge to the distribution system,” he added.
Post-disinfection with sodium hypochlorite is accomplished upstream of the plant’s finished water clearwells. Fluoride is also added to the filtered water to provide additional health benefits by reducing the risk of dental disease, and an orthophosphate corrosion control chemical is applied to minimize the corrosivity of the finished water supply with respect to lead and copper.
The water originates from a reservoir which covers nearly 50 acres and holds 438 million gallons of water.
“The river pump is rated at 5 million gallons per day, or 3,472 gallons per minute,” said Water Superintendent Tim Williams.
The walk around the facility’s crest is 1.15 miles and at maximum height, the reservoir floor is 29 feet below the surface.
Construction began with a groundbreaking at the reservoir on June 23, 2006.
The project costs approximately $16 million. City officials indicate the largest portion of funding came from federal appropriations to the amount of $3,132,100 for the reservoir’s construction. Other federal appropriations came in the amount of $465,600 for purchasing the land and engineering and $250,000 for a feasibility study early in the process. The remainder came in the form of loans; $390,000 as a zero interest loan from the Ohio Public Works Commission for water lines and all others from the Ohio Water Development Authority.
Approximately $100,000 had to be spent when the excavators found sand, gravel and stone. The deposits were removed from the interior of the site and backfilled from adjacent land.
Officials have extended offers of cooperation to neighboring communities, proposing the reservoir as a water source for those outside of Delphos. Leaders in the Village of Fort Jennings remain interested and are conducting a water study.
Water from the reservoir is drawn to the water treatment plant through miles of piping which travels down State Route 66, east on Pohlman Road and then cuts through Stadium Park, where it hooks into the fresh water system and continues through the city to Waterworks Park to the water treatment plant.
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