Mount Vernon considers studies for lime slakers, a southern water tower and changing disinfection chemistry

Mount Vernon's utilities staff presented three study‑and‑design items for council review: modernizing lime handling at the water treatment plant, studying an elevated storage tank to address southern service area pressure and fire‑flow needs, and evaluating replacement of the city's chlorine dioxide disinfection system with sodium hypochlorite.

Director Sawyers said the lime handling equipment is aging, undersized and driving higher maintenance and chemical usage. The proposed design study would evaluate installing two modern lime slakers, dual lime silos, and an enclosed system for dust control and operator safety; design work would also look at converting current pump…