Big Changes for RWD#2

Phase 1                                                                      Phase 2                                                                    Phase 3

        

Completed

Beginning the first quarter of 2021, RWD#2 patrons will begin to see big changes at the RWD 2 water treatment plant. During 2018, the treatment plant reached 85% of its production capacity. RWD#2 has been working with our engineers this past year designing a three-phase, multi-year construction project. The estimated cost of the project is $28 million and will bring our production capacity from six million gallons per day to an eventual twelve million gallons per day. Phase 1 and 2 will be completed over two to four years and Phase 3 will be completed in five to eight years.
Phase 1 was prioritized to address site modifications, process water treatment and raw water pretreatment. This includes building a pre-sedimentation basin to provide detention for “pre-treatment” to the raw water. This will help solve the challenges we’ve faced with our raw water quality from last year’s flooding. A new dual cell discharging settling pond will also be designed and permitted to replace existing lagoons, providing an expanded system for the additional process waste streams.
Phase 2 was developed to improve disinfection practices, increase in storage and match the pumping capacity to the distribution system. This will include a concrete below ground chlorine contact basin, dual clear well, wet well, disinfection systems and high service pumps. These improvements will address other known issues that will improve disinfection stability during the hot months. An improvement will be seen with the construction of a three million gallons underground tank. We will eliminate the current on-site one million gallon above ground storage tank. The new clear well complex will provide the operators with flexible options for providing disinfection as needed, thus improving water quality by minimizing the effects of Disinfection By-Products.
Phase 3 will expand the water treatment capacity from 6 to 12 MGD by adding a duplicate treatment process parallel to the existing. The process will generally include a chemical feed building, presedimentation basin, pulsating clarifiers and filters. This system will provide real redundancy during average demand times and additional treatment capacity as the service area grows. The site was managed in such a way that the plant will be able to undergo a similar upgrade in the future if the need ever arises.
In preparation for the plant upgrade, RWD#2 worked on completing an intake improvement project with a new larger intake pump, three new variable frequency drive controllers, three new intake screens and zebra mussel control. The variable frequency drive controllers, or vfds, are designed to reduce our electricity costs which can reach $30,000 per month during the summer. Zebra mussels are a new issue facing Hillsdale and are aquatic nuisances that can clog intake structures. New copper ion generating equipment has been installed to control their attachment to our equipment.
Your water rates increased last July by $.50/1,000 gallons, the first increase since 1984. As our wholesale customers’ contracts renew, the $.50/1,000 gallons increase will be added to their cost as well. RWD 2 has been debt free since 2010 when the board decided to pay the district’s debt off ten years early. It is our goal to consistently provide the highest quality water leaving our plant at the most economical rate to our customers. The phased approach is also designed for efficiency and to meet the future needs of our customers.

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