AUSTIN - The final touches are being put on the Austin arsenic mitigation project, which is slated to wrap up at the end of this month. The system is projected to go online in October, said Marty Ugalde, engineer/project manager with Day Engineering, the company overseeing the entire project.
The construction of the seven-mile transmission line and the upgrading of Pony Canyon Spring, as well as the construction of the 250,000 gallon water tank, was completed at the end of August. The well pump was also installed at the end of August.
Construction of the well building, the booster station at the fairgrounds and the pressure reducing station at the corner of Sixth and Bateman streets are on schedule to be completed at the end of this month, Ugalde said.
Bacteria testing and testing of the pump units still need to be done on the entire system, Ugalde said.
Sierra Nevada Construction's (SNC) is the general contractor for the project. Lander County Sewer and Water District #2 accepted SNC's bid of $3.5 million and issued a notice of award to the company on March 18. The project went out to bid Feb. 4 for a general contractor.
The well, which is located seven miles west of Austin, was completed last year by Parsons Drilling, out of Fallon.
There are four water tanks already existing in town. The new well water and the spring water from Pony Canyon and Marshall Canyon springs will be combined in the existing upper two tanks as it has been done in the past except the spring water will blend with the new well instead of the old well.
Commissioners unanimously approved at their July 14, 2011, meeting $5.5 million in funding from the 2012 Net Proceeds of Mine receipts, including specific allocation for a grant to Lander County Sewer and Water District #2 for the project. Approximately $2.73 million was spent through the end of the fiscal year (June 30) on the project, Ugalde said. The whole project is slated to cost around $4.58 million.
The current levels of arsenic in the Austin water system are around 14 parts per billion (ppb). The arsenic level in the new well is 5 ppb. In 2006, the nationwide federal standards for limits of arsenic in drinking water were lowered from 50 ppb to 10 ppb.
[[In-content Ad]]
