Water Pressure Woes Costly to Remedy
Husbands are reporting that when they decide to take a shower they had better get the soap off before the wife turns on the sprinklers outside. Restaurant servers have to wait for water to make coffee if a tanker is filling from the city water system. School personnel have reported inability to flush toilets due to low pressure at times.
Midvale’s aging water system was the main topic of discussion at the regular meeting of the city council Monday evening. Grae Harper of Kellar Associates gave a report on the progress of the city’s master water plan. He noted that the artesian well, which is the main source for the city, is now pumping at just 100 gal/minute. Many years ago it was pumping at 700 gal/minute, but due to the hard water and years of sediment buildup, the well is no longer performing as before. The city has two newer wells which are both in use especially in summer to supplement the artesian water supply.
To address the pressure issue, the council would like to install a storage tank and perhaps a booster pump. Harper submitted an application for a loan to the Idaho DEQ which included a 350,000 gallon storage tank and a booster pump. The application was approved, but has not been accepted by the Midvale council because of the high cost. The loan cap is $2.7 million but does not have to be accessed all at once. After that startling number, there were other options that were discussed. One was a smaller tank. Another was to do an acid flush of the artesian well which might increase flow, with no guarantee. The process would take about a week to complete. Other wells have increased output to about 65% with that treatment. The acid flush would need to be repeated every 20-30 years.
The council instructed Harper to do some revisions in the plan with a smaller storage tank and maybe other options for a booster pump. The loan offer from DEQ is good for three years.
Also suggested was to start having some conversations with the Midvale water users about the cost to fix the system. An open house was mentioned with Harper coming to show the citizens all the facts and figures, pressure numbers and options available.
Also present at the meeting was Attorney Geoff Schroeder of MSBT out of Boise and Mountain Home. He shared his personal history and experience working with cities. The firm represents many cities with all kinds of legal advice. The council approved the hiring of Schroeder as the city’s attorney at the rate of $200/hour, $100/hour for paralegal, plus out of pocket expenses.
The airport runway is usable, however the pavement has still not been laid. A $100,000 donation towards the project was received from an anonymous donor. The pile of runway asphalt chips removed earlier has now been assigned to Craig Excavation as payment for work they have done on the runway. They will be selling it as they wish.
The next regular meeting of the council will be July 14 at 7:00 p.m..
