MMWS

2021: Tanks a lot Barry & Andrew!

Hooray to Barry and Andrew for completing the tank replacement project, which involved removing and replacing part of the plant roof to get the new tanks in. (See previous report below for photo of the old tank and the new pre-filters.)

Here are the new tanks in place, and the clearwell control system and inter-tank level control valve.

Our heroes on the roof...

...and after the installation.

Contact Barry if you'd like a Plant Tour, and be sure to thank them for the great job!

2020 Plant Upgrade (So, da Ash Project worked!)

After failing our regular Lead testing in our water district and being advised, Old Settling Tank (er, well, enforced actually) by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to take some action, we embarked on a project to raise the pH level of our water to a more neutral level, as the acidic water in our pipes was encouraging the lead in solder on pipes to leach into the water at resident's houses.

You may recall the 2019 Annual General Meeting where plant operator Barry Mauerman presented the proposed plan to increase pH by injecting Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash) into the finished water. This would all but eliminate Lead and Copper issues, prolong the life of our distribution system, raise alkalinity and balance pH.

New pre-filtersThanks to Rachel for her hard work on our grant application, which resulted in MMWSC being awarded a grant in March 2020 from the CDPHE of monies up to $20,000 to spend on construction work to improve water quality. We had to get an engineering study completed and approved by CDPHE, purchase all the equipment to install a system to add Soda Ash to the water, and we had to perform a set of regular tests. After we had accomplished all of that we still had a failure in our system!

Flummoxed momentarily, but not detered, further investigation revealed suspect pipes inside a home that kept failing the lead tests. Thanks to the hard work and expense of the home owner, we managed to get all the affected pipework replaced, and we are glad to inform everyone that we have now been successful in passing our lead testing with the best numbers we've ever seen!

A huge Thank You is due to our plant operators, and especially Barry Mauerman for all of the work that's been done to solve this problem, hopefully once and for all!

2013-2015 Plant Upgrade

We have undertaken a major renovation of our water plant. The improvements that we made were necessary to keep us in compliance with CDPHE (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment) drinking water regulations.

Our plant is now in compliance. It has been under an enforcement order since 2011 due to turbidity violations during seasonal runoff, but this enforcement order was lifted on March 5, 2015, by the CDPHE. The folders linked here contain the reports that we have to send to CDPHE while we under the Enforcement Order, and the Small System Training & Technical Assistance Grant Quarterly Progress Reports.

The timeline below presents the status and highlights of the plant upgrade process, and will be updated as significant events occur and milestones are met.

Milestones so far: