Officials explain complexities of water system problems and $120 million solutions to Cape Girardeau Chamber

Alliance Water Systems plant manager JJ Ridings speaks to members of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce at its First Friday Coffee event on Friday, July 12. Ridings and public works director Casey Brunke delivered a presentation on the problems with Cape Girardeau's water plant and distribution system.

Bob Miller ~ bmiller@semissourian.com

City officials took their message of the city’s deteriorating water system to the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Friday morning, July 12.

The message was a complicated one with many parts. The long-term solution comes with a $120 million price tag to meet the increasing water demands of the community.

The talk, delivered by Alliance Water Sources plant manager JJ Ridings and Public Works director Casey Brunke, highlighted the challenges the city faces not just with the water system and the cost to fix it but how to communicate the issues.

The duo explained the tangled layers of challenges involving chemistry, aging pipes, environmental issues and public health.

The talk touched on the functionality of the city’s water distribution system, how water is treated, the chemicals needed to make water safe, the chemicals in untreated water that can cause harm and the mystery behind the changing makeup of the city’s water source. The water source enigma disrupts the entire water sanitation process and limits capacity in a system with pipes dating to the 1800s.

At the end of the presentation, Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Rob Gilligan joked that those paying attention to the entire presentation could earn attendees some continuing education credits in chemistry.

Brunke and Ridings acknowledged after the presentation that the science and details contributing to the water system’s problems are probably not interesting to everyone. But they’re important in telling the wider story of water distribution.

“It’s very difficult because as you’ve heard, everything is dependent on all the projects. They are all dependent on each other,” Brunke said.

Despite some of the technical education, the consensus among Gilligan and the presenters is that the future of water infrastructure is a key issue for the entire city, especially for future business development. Brunke said after the presentation that the City doesn't want to be in a position to turn away a major business because it doesn't have the infrastructure to handle a high water demand.

By 2032, officials anticipate water system needs totaling $56.5 million, only $9 million of which has been secured. After 2033, an additional $62 million will be required to replace water mains and add capacity.

The city’s presentation identified four pillars of issues:

* Changing source water

* Increasing demand

* Infrastructure

* Funding

Source water problem

Ridings said one of the most important elements at the root of current problems is that “something has changed in the source water, which makes it take longer to treat in our clarifiers (settlement tanks), which hurts our flow through the plants. And we are past capacity. So it’s kind of likely there will be conserve water [measures] and stuff going on,” Ridings said following the presentation. An unknown component in the wells is dissipating the chlorine, according to previous reporting in the Southeast Missourian. An engineering company as well as the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are looking into the aquifer. Issues may extend beyond Cape Girardeau and into the Scott City area, officials say.

Additionally, Ridings explained that iron levels fluctuate wildly, sometimes in a day’s time. Arsenic levels have risen. The chlorine dilemma makes the job of filtering unwanted chemicals more difficult. The chemicals in the water can produce nitrates, the levels of which are closely monitored at the plant. When nitrates reach unsafe levels, they can contribute to a condition known as blue baby syndrome. According to the National Institutes of Health, blue baby syndrome is caused when nitrate-contaminated drinking water is used to prepare instant formula. Infants’ skin can develop a blue-gray color as a result. The condition, if not treated, can result in serious illness and death. Public water supplies are required to provide water with safe levels of nitrates. Dangerous levels of nitrates are sometimes found in private wells, especially in agricultural areas where nitrate fertilizers are used on crops.

Ridings explained when nitrates and nitrites numbers rise, the staff at the water plant drains the tanks, which also contributes to capacity issues.

The city is doing “magic” to keep the water levels safe, Brunke said following the chamber presentation.

And they’re doing so with an aging system with many old parts.

Solutions

The city has addressed short-term problems with a patchwork of six in-house solutions to keep safe water moving to the city’s customers, while also outlining long-term solutions. Five projects are currently in the design phase:

* Filter gallery

* Lime feed

* Corrosion control

* Chemical feed

* Expansion

The costs associated with these water plant projects is about $20 million. The two most critical plant needs, the filter gallery and the lime feed/chemical feed, cost about $9.2 million and are “well underway.”

“All these projects go hand in hand to increase our capacity,” Brunke said.

Ridings used photos of corroded pipes to illustrate the problems associated with the lime feed process, which requires the most man-hours in the operation. He said in some places there is not enough metal to do welding repairs. Among the plans are to add a fourth clarifier at the plant and a fourth secondary settling basin.

Upgrades are also needed for the distribution system, where some pipes date to the 1800s, though most of the vulnerable pipes were buried in the 1930s and 1940s. Additionally, “booster stations” run nonstop, due to the pressures of the system. Those issues need to be addressed in the next 10 years.