New water plant begins operation

SANDPOINT — After years of planning, approval from local voters and construction, the new lake water treatment plant is delivering fresh H2O to Sandpoint homes.

After long months of construction that started in March 2011 for a price tag of $13 million, the water treatment facility is up and running. Final testing is underway to ensure everything is in proper order before it officially goes online in late 2012.  

“It’s still not completely done,” Public Works Director Kody Van Dyk said. “Right now, we’re in the process of a 14-day stress test to make sure everything is working correctly.”

However, state authorities have cleared the facility to begin delivering water. Beginning last Thursday, city officials put the new treatment plant through its paces, meaning Sandpoint utility customers are on the receiving end of an improved product for the very first time.

The new water treatment plant replaces a sand filter used for the past 30 years with a state-of-the-art 0.1 micron membrane far superior in removing impurities, contaminants and other nastiness from Lake Pend Oreille waters.

Perhaps the biggest improvement, however, is the greatly-expanded capacity. The new plant upgrades the previous facility’s 3-million-gallons-per-day capacity to 10 million gallons. That dramatically increases the number of potential clients Sandpoint utilities can serve at any one point, opening the door for solid growth potential. This is also good news for Ponderay and Kootenai residents, who now have access to water service over much larger territory.

“We expanded our boundaries to Ponderay and Kootenai pretty significantly last year with the anticipation of this day happening,” Van Dyk said.

The new water plant was made possible due to a $17 million water bond passed by Sandpoint voters in 2009. Over the course of construction, Hoffman Contractors of Spokane kept the project on schedule and stable despite difficult weather conditions over the winter and spring. Although city officials have increased utility rates over the years to pay for the project, Van Dyk said the increased revenue from the expanding clientele may help stabilize that dynamic. That’s thanks in part to the low interest rate city officials were able to secure for the water treatment plant construction project.

“The expectation is to keep rate increases to a minimum,” Van Dyk said. “For example, we have no increases planned this year.”