The Collinsville City Council agreed Monday to the construction of a new water treatment plant for the city.

After reviewing the findings of a study the city requested from Hurst-Rosche Engineers Inc, of Hillsboro, the council decided in favor of the estimated $15.6 million new construction project over an $11.05 million upgrade to the existing 56-year-old plant. The decision was reached at a special meeting of the City Council.

The Collinsville Water Treatment Plant / Photo by Roger Starkey

The council voted in July to hire Hurst-Rosche to conduct a study of the water treatment plant, compare the cost of renovation to the cost of new construction and to update the existing water treatment project plan.

Construction of the new 16,500 square-foot plant may begin in early 2015, Dennis Kress, director of water/wastewater for Collinsville said, but it is too early in the process to give a precise timeline. The facility would likely go online sometime in 2016 if construction begins in early 2015.

The existing 9,435 square-foot plant went online in 1958 and needs major upgrades. It does not meet the requirements of the American’s with Disability Act and is built to the seismic standards that existed in 1958, which are much less stringent compared to current standards.

If major maintenance is needed at the current plant, it can only be taken out of commission for about 30 hours, which is the estimated capacity of the clear well and distribution storage, Kress said. Treated water ready to be distributed to the city is stored in the clear well. Having only one is also a problem.

“The EPA is aware of our lack of redundancy and they are very concerned,” Kress said. The new plant will use the existing 500,000-gallon clear well and have another of the same size, doubling the capacity.

The clear well lies directly under the existing plant, which could be problematic. “If it goes out of service, we would be in dire straits to provide water to the community,” Kress said.

Construction of the new building, which will be located close to the existing plant at 1800 St. Louis Road will be financed by a 20-year loan to be secured through the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s State Revolving Fund. The Illinois Clean Water Initiative of 2012 made $1 billion dollars available to local governments through this fund for wastewater and drinking water capital projects. Kress estimated the interest rate on the loan to be about 2 percent, or half of what could be secured in the open market.

Repayment of the loan will be financed by water rate increases for the city’s customers. According to figures provided by Finance Director Tamara Ammann, the average small family may see an increase of about $5 on each bill (customers are billed every two months). A medium-size family may see an increase of $10 per bill. Ammann cautioned that the rate increases are rough estimates at this point. They were calculated using estimates of $15.6 million as construction costs and 2 percent as the loan interest rate.

Even after the increase, Collinsville residents and businesses will pay a rate that is about average compared to surrounding communities, Ammann said. The rates will decrease after the city repays the loan. Rates will be lowered through the regular process of setting rates based on cost, Ammann said.

Hurst-Rosche recommended construction of a new building over rehabilitation of the existing one. Scott Hunt, project manager for Hurst-Rosche, estimated that, over the life of the 20-year loan, the city would save about $2.3 million in operations and maintenance cost alone with a new water treatment building.

New water filter technology will be implemented in the new building that will allow the city to use less water. Hurst-Rosche estimated the water savings to be worth $885,000 over the life-span of the loan.

Councilperson Karen Woolard said construction of a new building to replace the existing 56-year-old structure is inevitable. “It’s not a matter of if, but when,” Woolard said.

The $15.6 million construction price tag includes demolition costs of the existing building.

In 2010, Collinsville added a new well and added additional water storage to the water treatment network. These upgrades will remain part of the network after the new water treatment plant is finished.

About $16 million in upgrades were performed from 2006 – 2012 on the wastewater treatment facility. The wastewater plant was built in 1972.