SPU has hired Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) to perform a comprehensive evaluation of municipal water treatment program.
Overview
SEH is an employee-owned engineering, architectural, environmental and planning company that helps government, industrial and commercial clients find answers to complex challenges. They are headquartered in St. Paul, MN with 31 offices in nine states.
The comprehensive evaluation is a 7-step feasibility study that will continue through April 2021.
We want to understand your position on this important matter. In the upcoming months, SEH will be engaging the customers of SPU’s municipal water to gain your input. SPU values the ideas, concerns and goals of our customers. Please watch for further information to be posted on our website and facebook page, as well as customer surveys and public meetings that we invite you to participate in.
Updates will be shared on this site as the study progresses.
Step 1 – Initial Findings
Mr. Chris Larson, Project Engineer for SEH presented the Commission and staff with their initial findings related to SPU’s water quality and water system. The overall water quality findings reported, include:
- SPU water quality meets all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for safety.
- The aesthetic water quality in SPU wells is very good. We are fortunate to have the relatively low levels of iron and manganese naturally present in our water (with no water treatment).
- All blending of water within the SPU water system is done at the wellhouse – PRIOR to being delivered to the distribution system and any SPU customer.
- While nitrate is present in SPU wells, it has been below the EPA’s maximum contaminant level (MCL) for the last three years*. The good news is that levels have stayed the same or gone down naturally over the last 20 years. Wells with higher nitrate levels (but below EPA’s “safe to drink” standards) are blended at the wellhouse to further reduce levels before entering the distribution system and reaching customers.
- None of the SPU wells are near the EPA’s advisory level for manganese, and in general, are well below the MN Dept Health’s Health Based Value (HBV). Only one sampling at one well in the last three years has exceeded the HBV of 0.1mg/L, but was below the EPA advisory level of 0.3 mg/L.
- We have hard water in Shakopee. Softening water on a municipal scale can be done, but it is expensive to build, operate and maintain. Alternatively, water softening can be accomplished economically with home water softeners.
The complete memorandum and presentation can be found in the October 5 Commission Meeting Packet. Click Here
*SEH reviewed only three years of data; nitrate MCL’s have been lower longer than three years.
