Milford wraps up water project

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A $1.4 million water system improvement project finished up last week in Milford.

The city began the project last spring and stayed mostly on track, with the target completion date of Nov. 28.

City Maintenance Superintendent Gary TeSelle, who also handles water and wastewater operations, said the project has tripled Milford’s capacity for water production, which will benefit the city as it continues to grow and give added fire protection in case of emergency.

The project was completed in several steps, which included removing an old underground water storage tank in front of the high school and drilling a new well behind the high school near the football practice field.

TeSelle said the city stopped using the underground tank, which held 120,000 to 130,000 gallons of water, about two months ago.

“With our bigger water tower and the new well, it eliminated the necessity of having an underground storage tank that’s more than 100 years old, and maintaining it,” he said. “This is a good move for the city right now.”

The city’s old water tower that was once located in front of the high school held around 120,000 gallons, but the new tower more than doubled that capacity at 300,000 gallons.

The new tower was installed 15 years ago and is scheduled to be painted in the near future.

The new well pump is housed near the practice field in a multipurpose building.

Half the building is for the well, and the other half is storage for the school’s track and field equipment. The facility is fenced and locked on the well side so that only authorized city employees have access to the water system.

The city and school district signed a 99-year lease agreement that allowed the city to use a portion of the school’s ground for the well.

In exchange, the school will take over the portion of land in front of the high school where the old storage tank was.

TeSelle said another part of the project was streamlining the city’s treatment process and chemical storage.

“We’re treating the water all in one spot now instead of three. That will make it easier to keep chemicals fresh,” he said.

The new well, known as well No. 7, can pump up to 600 gallons per minute.

“That outdoes two to three of our other wells put together,” TeSelle said.

Other minor parts of the project included cleaning up other wells and rerouting which ones go where.

Three wells that used to flow into the underground tank now tie into the new well, and some tune ups to the city’s well near the golf course increased its flow rate from 160 gpm to 400 gpm.

“We have times the demand gets a little hard,” TeSelle said, “but we’re very fortunate as a community of our size to have seven wells. Most have one or two.”

The wells do not all run at once, and the city has to blend water from different areas in order to keep its nitrate levels within state regulations.

It also blends hard and soft water—deeper wells produce harder water, while shallower wells produce softer water.

TeSelle said some residents may have noticed a brown tinge in their water during the project.

“We don’t have the whole thing perfect yet,” he said.

An old generator also was replaced as part of the project.

“That is the back-up source of power for the wells,” TeSelle said.

So, if the city experiences a power outage, it can still maintain some of its water supply for awhile.

The state approved the new well at the beginning of November.

The whole project was paid for through a state revolving fund loan, which the city is paying back through user fees, not tax dollars.

emily@sewardindependent.com