Foss board still looking at possibilities

Improvements to the Foss Reservoir water treatment plant that could cost from about $4.5 million to $9 million were talked about briefly Monday night at the 
December meeting of the Foss Reservoir Master Conservancy District board of directors.
Neither of the district’s principal advisers – the engineering firm of Burns & McDonnell or consultant Duane Smith – was present, so it was only the board members and plant manager Shawn Dewees talking amongst themselves. Just about everybody agreed they needed more information.
Burns and Mac, the engineering company that helped oversee the construction of Clinton’s new water treatment plant, delivered a 105-page, $100,000 report to the Foss board in October but hasn’t been back at either of the monthly board meetings since.
Until that report was digested, Dewees said Wednesday, there was no reason to have them back. “Once we get ready to act, we’ll have them back,” he said.  
A written summary of that report which he prepared for the board said Burns and Mac had inspected the plant’s gravity filter system and it’s been determined that the filters have several issues that can be resolved only through “filter rehabilitation.” The estimated cost for that is $2.47 million.
A related, but different, problem is the need for updating the plant’s clarifier. The report said the existing clarifier was brought on line around 1974 which means it’s been in use about 45 years.
Clinton of course has been off Foss water for more than a year, using primarily Clinton Lake water, but because of water demands from other towns in the FRMCD (Hobart, Cordell and Bessie), Dewees’ summary said the existing clarifier could not be drained for inspection. But he indicated B&M’s estimate for rehabilitating it is approximately $1.64 million.
“Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality also requires a redundant clarifier which Foss has never had,” he said in his report. The estimate for a new, but smaller, clarifier is $2.96 million.
Combining the estimates for filter rehabilitation and a new clarifier is $5.43 million, which is toward the lower end of the total estimate.
Dewees said when he talked to the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, it was suggested that the district consider “membrane technology” for its filter system.
“What you’re suggesting was not looked at by the engineers?” asked David Berrong, the district’s longtime board chairman who’s also been Clinton’s mayor the last couple of years.
“It’s new technology,” said Dewees, adding that DEQ is going to require a pilot study before it will approve anything along those lines.
“Who would pay for the pilot study?” asked Dr. Bill Jackson, one of three Clinton members on the seven-man board.
“We would,” replied Dewees, saying that alone would probably cost $100,000.
“If we want to go with that, I would go back to South Dakota,” he added, where a similar system is already in use. He’s been there before and indicated the South Dakota folks were very good to work with and had invited him back.
“But there are a few things I need to work out with the company which put that in before I make a trip to South Dakota,” he said Wednesday.
The board took no action Monday on any of the Burns and Mac recommendations.
“It’s going to take a little time to review a couple more options that could save the district money,” said Dewees.
Following the November meeting, it was indicated the district had about $5 million in the bank. But of course directors would not want to spend all that on upgrades.
“There are still damages from the drought (of 2011 through 2015) that need to be rehabbed and repaired,” said Dewees. “In no way would I want to indicate that we have $5 million just lying around. We have things that need to be repaired with that money.”
Dewees said the membrane technology he would be looking at if he makes the South Dakota trip would be for “pretreatment purposes, for filtering the water before it goes through the EDR technology which takes out the minerals in it.”