Just over a year after Lena closed one of its two wells, the course is set to rectify the problem.
In February 2013, Well No. 1, at the Village Hall, was above 5 picocurie per liter of water (pCi/l) and out of compliance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards. It was immediately shut down, and the village began operating with only one well—and studying its options.
At an informational meeting Thursday, village leaders and a consulting engineer unveiled plans for a new water treatment facility and related underground infrastructure, plus modifications to the two wells in the village. The $3.4 million project is scheduled to begin this summer.
The meeting occurred just three days after the village received some good news in the form of a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Administration. The village is also in the running for an EPA grant of $500,000 in principal forgiveness.
Receiving the grants will cushion property owners from skyrocketing water rates. Just how high the rates will jump hasn’t been determined. The Public Service Commission will perform a rate study once construction costs are determined.
“We will open bids in a couple of weeks, then see what the village can afford from what we have budgeted for the project,” said Craig Schuh, an Ayres Associates engineer working with the village.
Schuh said the project is necessary to maintain water volume for fire safety, resident use and Lena’s primary industry, Saputo Cheese, which is the village’s biggest water customer.
“In a community this size you need two water sources,” he added.
The village has applied for funds from the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program, a Department of Natural Resources fund that issues low-interest, long-term financing to public entities needing water system improvements. Lena is seeking a 20-year loan at 1.9 percent interest. In the meantime, the village arranged short-term borrowing on a $3.2 million loan from First Merit Bank in Lena at .75 percent interest.
Village leaders have decided to use a chemical processing system to reduce radium levels, after a pilot study yielded positive results. In the October study, water from Well No. 1 was chemically treated by equipment in a trailer parked behind the Village Hall. The successful test showed water entering in the range of 7 pCi/l exited at under 1 pCi/l.
This test, along with site visits to Seymour and Peshtigo—municipalities that already use the process—convinced village leaders to adopt the process.
“It’s proven technology that’s been used for years,” Village President Steve Marquardt said.
The village will use Hydrous Manganese Oxide (HMO) radium removal technology, a process in which radium is absorbed on the surface of HMO particles, which are then filtered.
“One of the reasons we went with the HMO project was the waste. We could discard it through our waste water treatment plant, whereas with some of the other processes, it got pretty expensive dealing with hauling out that waste,” Marquardt said.
“Village employees will be able to do the maintenance, upkeep, testing,” Schuh said.
Once the project is complete, water from Well No. 1 will flow through the treatment facility, where the radium will be removed. A transition main will be constructed for water from Well No. 2 to be diverted for treatment if this well ever goes out of compliance with EPA standards. December’s output at Well No. 2 was at 3.37 pCi/l, well under the EPA’s requirement of 5 pCi/l.
To house the treatment equipment, a 70- by 42-foot facility will be constructed on a 22-acre parcel owned by the village behind the Village Hall. Construction will take place in the summer and fall. Well No. 1 modifications will also begin this summer. Once Well No. 1 is running smoothly, Well No. 2 will be shut down for upgrades, scheduled in 2015.
In addition, a lift station will be constructed by the park and ride at the Lena on/off ramp of U.S. Highway 141, and a loop from the treatment facility will tie in to the front of the high school to improve the water quality where a dead-end exists.
Upgrades will bring the system up to code, with updates to electrical, safety and SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). Well No. 2 will also undergo exterior improvements, with new insulation and siding to make it more energy efficient.
The village split the project in two, seeking bids for the underground utility work separately from the water treatment plant construction.
Marquardt told the audience radium is naturally occurring and employees in the village did nothing done wrong to cause the high levels.
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