At the Jan. 18 meeting, the Carroll-Boone Water District moved forward with its plan to implement a corrosion control strategy by gradually increasing the pH of the water it sells to Eureka Springs, Berryville, Green Forest and Harrison. Engineer and consultant Brad Hammond of McGoodwin, Williams and Yates (MWY) said the plan was to add a lime slurry, or caustic soda if necessary, over time to adjust the pH to 8.6.
“This is the best we can do,” Hammond said. He mentioned the process might soften the water a bit but there are no negative side effects, and this is a standard practice in the industry to achieve this result. The pH adjustment will also reduce solubility of lead from old pipes into the water. The other option would be to add orthophosphates, which might have untoward consequences.
Hammond told commissioners low bidder was Seven Valleys Construction of Cassville, Mo., and the project should be completed by August if commissioners approved the bid at that meeting, which they did.
Hammond also said he amended the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the four customer cities to clarify the method to be used to accomplish corrosion control.
Water dripping on water plant staff
Plant Manager Barry Connell told commissioners there were several hundred holes in the roof of the office building at the Freeman-Raney Treatment Plant. He said it’s a flat roof about 20 years old, and patches have not stopped the leaking. One estimate for replacing the roof with another flat roof was around $87,000, so CBWD would have to get bids for the project.
Commissioner Frank Brooks mentioned a pitched metal roof would last longer, and Connell pointed out a difficulty in converting to a pitched roof would be accounting for the existing roof hatches.
Chair James Yates asked Connell about a timeline, and Connell replied the roof was “not super-pressing,” but added, “This year would be good.”
Hammond said MWY had an architect who could provide some options. Brooks suggested hail damage might have contributed to the problem, and Hammond added he would check with the insurance provider and report back.
Other plant news
Connell said their strategy of load shedding saved CBWD $135,039 last year. Load shedding is using CBWD generators to power the plant during periods of peak electricity usage in the summer, which means the cost of electricity spikes. He added they might also employ load shedding in the future during especially cold winters like this one.
Connell also mentioned his strategy of cutting back on the amount of coagulant used in the process of cleaning the water reduced the amount of sludge that had to be removed. The cost for sludge removal in 2016 was about $95,000, but in 2017 the cost went down to $58,000.
MWY joining Ollson
Hammond mentioned MWY had been looking to expand its capabilities, and it recently found a way. MWY has officially become a division of Ollson Associates, a company with 30 offices and 1100 employees nationwide. Hammond said all the current MWY staff will remain in Fayetteville with the same independence, just the letterhead will change and they will have access to a broader array of services.
Other items
- Office Manager Cathy Klein announced the amounts of rebates to the cities were: Berryville – $31,559; Green Forest – $54,806; Eureka Springs – $19,527; Harrison- $72,108. Klein said, according to the MOU, profit left over from the previous year is returned to the cities based on each city’s percentage of usage.
- Commissioners again committed to donate $5000 to the Beaver Watershed Alliance, a nonprofit agency that, among other efforts, works with landowners to restore stream banks and prevent erosion in the Beaver Lake watershed to reduce the flow of contaminants into Beaver Lake.
Next meeting will be Thursday, April 19, at 10 a.m.