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Ayers Associates presents Suamico water project, board hears $9.9M estimate and tower plan
Summary
Ayers Associates updated the Suamico Village Board on a northwest well, treatment building and a planned water tower. The design includes radium removal and a generator; current project cost estimate is about $9.9 million (20% contingency) and the tower was estimated at roughly $2.7 million. DNR review and bidding are planned this fall.
Craig Hsu of Ayers Associates told the Suamico Village Board on July 20 that the village’s new permanent well is designed as a 700 gallon-per-minute, 24-inch top-drilled well and that pilot testing showed elevated radium, requiring treatment.
Hsu described the treatment building layout and equipment: “The five round circles…in the treatment room is your radium removal process. It’s a filtration process with the addition of HMO,” he said, noting the building will also include two chemical rooms (chlorine and HMO), a lab, equipment and an electrical room. He added a site generator and SCADA will provide power and monitoring during outages.
The consultant said an updated cost estimate for the building and treatment systems, including a 20% contingency carried from earlier estimates, is about $9.9 million — roughly $400,000 higher than the $9.5 million estimate reported a year earlier. Hsu said the water tower was previously estimated at approximately $2.68–$2.7 million and that a $1,000,000 congressional appropriation was earmarked for a water tower specifically.
Board members and consultants discussed alternatives and schedule. Trustees asked whether a ground storage tank was considered; Hsu and staff explained the commission had evaluated tank vs. tower and chose a tower because long-term system hydraulics, fire-flow requirements and a two‑zone pressure design make a tower more efficient for the village’s projected demand. Hsu said DNR plan-review typically takes about 90 days and the team has blocked time in early August and September to respond to comments; the goal is to put contract documents out for bid in September–October with construction beginning in spring 2027.
On funding, staff said the village filed a Safe Drinking Water Loan application on June 30; because the village’s median household income is above state thresholds, the project is ineligible for grant funds through that program, though the loan would be subsidized. Trustees asked that the team report back with more detail on generator capacity, confirmed square footage of the building and refined budget numbers as preliminary design advances.
The board took no action on the project tonight; staff and consultants will return with DNR comments and final bid-ready documents.
