Bay City, Michigan 48706
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www.mybaycity.com April 6, 2014
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Membrane system is slated for installation in new Bay County water treatment plant.

HOW MUCH SAFER? New $72 Million Water Plant Uses Membrane Technology

April 6, 2014       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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Bay County residents are on track to finally get superior quality water.

It will cost us about 15 percent more than present water.

And, the whole process has taken more than six decades of fits and starts, enough to give the Pope heartburn.

But how superior will the water we finally get in a couple of years be?

Official water quality reports are masterful examples of parsing words, but a close reading reveals the facts: Bay City water is, and has been, suspect because it is drawn out of the inner Saginaw Bay.

Saginaw-Midland water is of higher quality because it comes from the depths of Lake Huron more than 50 miles north.

The city published a 2012 Water Quality Report" noting that "your tap water meets or surpasses all federal and state standards for quality and safety. The good news is that our treatment process removes nearly all traces of harmful contaminants."

The report, sent to all city water customers, noted that the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality recently assessed 59 public water supplies in Michigan. "MDEQ rated Bay City's source water, the Saginaw Bay, as being Highly Sensitive and Highly Susceptible to potential contaminants. Of the 59 supplies assessed, 28 (47 percent) had the exact same rating. It is important to understand that this rating does not indicate the presence of any actual contamination in the Saginaw Bay source, nor in the final treated water that is supplied to our customers."

The report notes the presence of minimal amounts of contaminants like fluoride, nitrate, sodium, sulfate, lead, copper and other materials that are byproducts of the disinfection process, as well as turbidity from soil runoff. (The entire report is available at www.baycitymi.org/waterreport.htm)

The Saginaw-Midland water quality report has a quite different statement: "The Source Water Assessment Report (SWAR) concluded that potential contaminant sources present a negligible risk due to the physical location of the intakes. Based on our intake's infrequent experience with abnormal current flows, the Saginaw-Midland source water is defined as moderately low for potential contamination."

Reports with similar wording have been published for at least the past decade.

Four decades ago, in 1971, the need for a new water source for Bay City/Bay County was clear, but a referendum failed by 150 votes on a question that required a "no" vote to approve the merger.

MyBayCity.com suggested another look at the old idea of a merger with the Saginaw-Midland water system in articles on July 25, 2005 and May 6, 2007.

"Anything that gives us better water is a win-win for Bay County," said a retired local official who worked for decades to bring the city water system into partnership with the Saginaw-Midland Water Supply System.

Mr. Paige summed up the system's request for inclusion in the state's Drinking Water Revolving Fund:

"With so many utilities facing the threat of contamination from an increasing number of sources, the need for new and better ways of treating and protecting our water supplies is paramount. Although there is no guarantee of 100 percent protection against an attack, spill, or infiltration of natural or intentional contaminants, the multi-barrier approach, along with the other benefits of membrane technology, can reduce the potential for disasters substantially. Together with all other safety and security measures recommended by national and federal guidelines, the installation of membrane systems in a facility provides water agencies with an effective multi-barrier system."

That partnership was reality last year when an agreement was signed between the Bay County Water System and the Saginaw-Midland system.

The 17.4-million-gallon-per-day membrane-filtration plant will include a 28,800-sq-ft building with raw and finished water pumping, two finished water tanks, chemical storage and feed facilities, and residuals treatment facilities. Construction is expected to be completed by June 2015.

There are 14 partners in the project that will serve about 37,500 customers.

Actually, the idea of joining with S-M began back in the 1940s when planning for a water source at Whitestone Point, near AuGres, started. The late Raymond J. Kuhn, managing editor of The Bay City Times, did an extensive report on the history of the turbulent water negotiations.

But the communities never were able to come together to cooperate on a mutual water source. Like ships passing in the night, first one community then the other rejected the proposed deals. Finally, former Road Commissioner the late Mike Studders began informal talks with S-M officials. Then Ken Miller, former water system chief, and Tom Paige, former supervisor of Williams Township, were able to bring all the parties to the table and a contract was agreed upon.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources states: "The presence of natural organic matter (NOM) in the source water is a cause of concern to health professionals and environmental engineers because the reaction of NOM with disinfectants, such as chlorine, results in the formation of disinfection byproducts (DBPs), such as trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs). Because of their toxicity (3-5), the trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids are regulated by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).

The project, labeled Environmental Innovation, qualifies for "Green Project Reserve Funding," and, according to Mr. Paige, will "improve water quality, reduce the need for chemicals, save energy in pump operations and save water," according to the agency.

Beginning in July 2012 the commodity charge for City of Bay City customers stayed the same at $3.15 per 100 cubic feet (ccf), or 748 gallons. Along with a service charge for customers within the City of Bay City, a residential customer who uses approximately 7 ccf of water per month, their monthly bill would be $28.55.

The city water system website states: "One influence on the cost of water is the reduced usage by the customer. There are certain fixed costs that are present no matter how much drinking water we produce. If the amount of water we sell goes down, the fixed costs of producing it has to be spread over that smaller amount sold, causing the per unit price to rise.

"As a customer of the Bay City Water Treatment Plant, clean safe drinking water is delivered to your home for approximately 2.5 cents for 5 gallons. That truly is quite a value when compared to buying bottled water. You would have to purchase approximately 32 single serving bottles of water at the store costing you $30 or more to equal the amount of water that we deliver to your home for about 2 cents. Customers outside of Bay City paid different amounts as determined by the respective governmental units that service their area, but overall those rates are very comparable to the rates paid by the City of Bay City customers.

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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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