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Ottawa City receives water-treatment plant evaluation; staff recommends phased upgrades
Summary
Director Scott Sneden presented a facility evaluation by PEC showing the 1980 plant is structurally aged but operable. Staff recommended a phased upgrade (estimated $7.7M–$10M) rather than building a new plant now (estimated $30M–$50M); commissioners were briefed on capacity, costs and regulatory risks including PFAS monitoring.
Director Scott Sneden presented the findings of a water treatment plant facility evaluation during an Ottawa City Commission meeting, recommending the commission receive and file the report and consider a phased capital-improvement approach.
The study, performed by consulting firm PEC and summarized by Sneden, examined mechanical, structural, electrical and control systems at the plant built between 1978 and 1980. "This is a receiving file report, based off the water treatment plant facility evaluation," Sneden said. The evaluation identified replacement and modernization needs and offered two paths: a phased set of upgrades estimated at $7.7 million to $10 million that would extend the plant’s useful life by about 20 years, or planning for a new treatment plant with a current cost estimate of $30 million to $50 million.
The report listed specific deficiencies and cost estimates: a 1,200,000-gallon clear well, surface water storage of about 35,000,000 gallons in two sedimentation ponds (roughly two weeks of storage at low end), a current rated capacity of about 4,500,000 gallons per day, and present production of roughly 1,600,000 gallons per day. Sneden summarized: "Our current rated capacity is approximately 4,500,000 gallons a day ... Today, we're producing around 1,600,000 gallons a day." The evaluation attributed part of the reduced rated capacity to tightened regulatory clarity requirements since the plant was built.
PEC engineer Sarah Underwood explained the role of supervisory control and data acquisition systems. "Basically, it's a way to control and monitor everything that's going on in the system," Underwood said, describing how SCADA gathers flow and pressure signals and can be used either for monitoring or for automated control of chemical feed systems.
Sneden and PEC flagged a range of needed work, with staff-provided cost ranges in the packet: filter media replacement (estimated $500,000–$750,000), high-service pump station repairs (estimated $1.2 million–$1.5 million; pumps and motors work already under way at about $800,000), pipe and valve replacements ($1.1 million–$1.5 million), full staircase replacements ($500,000–$800,000) and electrical/SCADA upgrades (costs to be determined; would require CIP funding and likely partial plant outages while work is done). Sneden described the chemical-feed automation as a "want, not a need," saying he prefers human monitoring for some functions.
On emerging contaminants, Sneden said the city completed a second round of testing for unregulated contaminants and is "well below any kind of action level for PFAS." He noted that future regulatory changes could require additional technology to remove PFAS and that long-term choices depend on growth and future rules.
Sneden recommended the commission receive and file the evaluation so it can be used in future capital-improvement planning and asset-management decisions. He said the phased approach is the staff preference now, with the commission likely to revisit long-term plant planning in another 10–15 years depending on growth and regulations.
The presentation included questions from commissioners about the plant’s history, regional partnerships and alternate water sources; Sneden said the plant’s single source is the Meridizine River, fed by Pomona and Melbourne reservoirs, and reiterated that the sedimentation ponds provide storage if river pumps are shut off.
The report and cost estimates will return to the commission when specific CIP requests or project phases are proposed.
