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City staff update: temporary switch to chlorine while Oshkosh replaces ozone generators
Summary
City staff reported a major construction project at the water filtration plant to replace the ozone generator and liquid oxygen storage systems; the plant is using chlorine as primary disinfectant while ozone is offline and reported stable chlorine levels within the DNR‑approved range.
City staff updated the Oshkosh Common Council on April 8 that the municipal water filtration plant is undergoing a major project to replace its ozone generator system and liquid oxygen storage system; during outages the plant will use chlorine as its primary disinfectant pursuant to the DNR‑approved operations plan.
Staff explained that ozone is a powerful oxidizer and that the city's operations plan approved by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) specifies using chlorine when ozone is offline. Workers took the ozone generators offline later than anticipated while valves and rerouting work completed; staff said they were installing a temporary liquid oxygen storage system to return ozone generation to service as quickly as possible.
Staff reported that the current chlorine residual in distribution is about 3.2 milligrams per liter, within the city's DNR‑approved operating window of 3.0 to 3.5 mg/L. Staff warned that the system will be taken offline for short periods later in the project for removal and installation of equipment and said the city will continue using media, social channels and local outlets to notify residents.
Council thanked staff and media partners for outreach; no water‑quality violations were reported in the transcript and staff emphasized the work is consistent with the city's DNR‑approved operations plan.
