City hears mixed test-well results: water present but several constituents near or over limits

An engineering representative who addressed council said the recently drilled test well behind the school produced a promising pump test but that initial water-quality samples were mixed.

"The good news is that there's water there," the consultant said. "The bad news is when they sampled it, the constituents they sampled it for were all right around the limit, right below the limit, right above the limit, or for a number of constituents." He identified arsenic and nitrate as near the limit, manganese as slightly above the limit, and iron present but below the limit.

The consultant outlined four main options if the second set of samples confirm those results: equip and treat the shallow well (with substantial treatment cost), seek permission to drill another test well near the treatment plant or cemetery, attempt to drill a deeper basalt well that might access higher-capacity aquifers, or construct a pipeline to purchase water from another city — the latter two options carry high costs and right-of-way complications. He said the city could also explore selling or reallocating the existing water right with the original funder as a way to finance a better supply option.

Council asked about likely treatment and operations costs; the consultant warned treatment for contaminants such as nitrate and manganese involves different processes and that treatment equipment could be expensive. The consultant said staff will run a second set of samples and report back with hydrogeologic analysis and refined options.