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Oak Creek water utility outlines more-than-$50 million plant upgrade to add UV disinfection
Summary
An Oak Creek water utility official described plans for a more-than-$50 million upgrade to storage and disinfection systems that will add ultraviolet disinfection, saying the work will increase efficiency and help ensure safe drinking water for Oak Creek, Franklin and north Calonia; funding and schedule were not specified.
An agency official from the Oak Creek Water Utility outlined plans for a more-than-$50 million upgrade to the plant’s storage and disinfection systems, saying the work will increase system efficiency and "ensure the safety of the water in Oak Creek for decades to come."
The official, speaking in a presentation to describe plant operations, said the utility draws raw water from Lake Michigan through an intake about a mile and a half offshore and that the plant produces about 8.5 million gallons per day. "On average, we produce 8.5 million gallons per day," the official said.
The presentation described the treatment sequence in plain terms: water is taken from a pipe set 24 feet off the lake bottom, undergoes coagulation and three-stage flocculation so particles settle in sedimentation basins, then passes through multimedia filtration layers (anthraite, silica sand, garnet sand and garnet gravel) before reaching a chlorine contact chamber and storage tanks. The speaker said the storage tanks are "about to get a major upgrade" that will include ultraviolet (UV) disinfection.
"This massive project will make the entire system more efficient and that will ensure the safety of the water in Oak Creek for decades to come," the agency official said. The official also noted the utility's history of awards and its participation in the Partnership for Safe Water, which sets treatment goals above normal state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency levels.
Plant staff take hourly samples to confirm online analyzers are calibrated, the presenter said, describing routine monitoring practices intended to maintain water quality. "Delivering clean water every day. No exceptions," the official said in closing.
The presentation did not specify a construction schedule, funding sources or a start date for the upgrade; those details were not provided in the remarks.
