Water treatment plant, RO decisions on council’s horizon
The Brandon City Council will soon be making an important decision regarding the expansion of the water treatment plant. The planned expansion will double the capacity of the plant from 2,000 gallons per minute (gpm) to 4,000 gpm. This increase in production is needed to meet the growth of the community. The option to include a reverse osmosis (RO) system to the plant is being considered to reduce the hardness of city water by approximately half from 400 parts per million (ppm) to 200 ppm or 24 grains to 12 grains. This will make the hardness of Brandon’s water comparable to surrounding communities. Customers may want to continue to soften their water further based upon their personal preference.
The bid for the plant expansion without the RO system is $16,943,800. The bid for the expansion with the RO system is $24,973,800. The cost of the RO system is $8,030,000.
The city has also applied for – and received – an ARPA Grant from the State of South Dakota. The amount of grant funds is determined by the size of the project. That amounts to a $5,083,140 grant if the RO system is not installed and $7,467,900 if the RO system is included in the project.
The project will be financed with a loan with a 30-year term. A monthly surcharge will be added to every customer’s bill to pay off the loan. The amount of the surcharge will vary depending on the size of the water meter that each customer has. A typical residential home has a meter that is 1-inch or less in size. The table has the estimated monthly surcharge that will be implemented.
The benefits of the RO system for customers is softer water will be delivered to homes and businesses. This may result in less salt being used in your private water softener. Wear and tear on appliances will be reduced as the softer water will reduce the calcium build-up on appliances and fixtures, thus potentially extending their life.
The softened water produced by the RO system will not harm grass or gardens, as it does not contain salt unlike the typical home water-softening system. AE2S, the engineering firm that has worked with the city to design the expansion, has indicated that the RO system may reduce the amount of salt being discharged into the environment by approximately 300 tons.
The RO system will also cost more to install and operate. The operation of the RO system will result in a water loss of approximately 12.5 percent, as that is the amount of water that is required to backwash the system, which will be discharged to the Big Sioux River. This is much less than a private RO system that many residents currently utilize.
It is anticipated that the city council will make this important decision during their regular meeting on May 2. For further questions, contact Brandon City Hall at (605) 582-6515.
