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3.5.09 Funds to help water treatment A Metropolitan Utilities District project to more rigorously treat water it pumps from the Platte River aquifer will receive $1 million in grant money from President Obama's stimulus plan. M.U.D. will apply the grant toward the $6.5 million cost of the chlorine contact basin at its Platte South treatment plant along the Platte River in Sarpy County. The basin will slow the treatment process and allow water to remain in contact with the disinfectant chlorine for a longer time. M.U.D. also is being given the option to tap into $5.5 million in low-interest loans from the state. Scott Keep, senior vice president of operations, said the stimulus dollars will be a big help. "We were going to have to do this anyway," he said. "This is one of those shovel-ready projects." The project already is being advertised for contractors and is to be completed by 2011. When the Platte South plant was built more than 40 years ago, the source of the water was considered to be only the aquifer, Keep said. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has since determined that surface water is having a direct effect on the aquifer, so more rigorous treatment is needed. "It's not that there was a problem with the water coming out (of treatment)," Keep said. "This is a treatment process that reduces the risk." |
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