McBaine Water Treatment Plant improvement project takes a step forward

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Water Bond sale closed on Thursday, allowing the McBaine Water Treatment Plant improvement project to now be taken to the City Council.

City of Columbia Utilities spokesman Matt Nestor said the City Council will now have to approve a request for bids before a contractor can be chosen to begin working on the project. The project was approved in 2018, and Nestor said the water plant upgrades are long overdue.

"It's something that's been sitting out there for a long number of years, and it's just getting older," Nestor said.

The city's website says the improvements to the water treatment plant will help the city meet its long-term infrastructure and water quality goals. Expected upgrades include restoring the original plant capacity, replacing outdated equipment, improving filtration and rehabbing the building to allow for more efficient operations.

Columbia Water and Light customers will also see their monthly base charge increase to help fund the improvement project. According to the city's website, customers will see their monthly base charge increase from $10 to $12, starting in next month's billing cycle.

However, Nestor said with things growing more expensive during the past five years, some original upgrade plans may not make the cut.

"We need to look at the scope of which of the projects that were originally in the scope we can't afford right now and try to determine the best process from there," Nestor said.

He said costs will all have to be addressed after bids are placed. He also said anything impacting water quality will be prioritized, and the upgrades will likely occur in phases.

"What we produce is still very high quality stuff, but this will make efficiency better, this will make the quality better, everything will improve as we do this," Nestor said.

He said it's taken so long to move forward largely due to the pandemic, as customer rate increases were paused. He said the city also held off on selling the bound because rate study was being conducted for the electric side of Columbia Water and Light.

The COMO Safe Water Coalition has previously expressed concern about the age and lack of upkeep of the city's water system. Co-founder Julie Ryan said the city refuses to remove ammonia from the system as part of the treatment plant updates.

"Starting at the water treatment plant, how we clean and disinfect our water is how we then send it out into the distribution system and then can prevent other problems," Ryan said after a water main broke on the University of Missouri's campus Tuesday.

Some of the city's water pipes are more than 100 years old. Nestor said the water treatment plant upgrades will not help prevent water main breaks in the future, but there are some capital improvement projects taking place to do so.

One of these projects includes replacing the main at Gordon and Charles streets. The city's website said this project will replace aging water distribution infrastructure and is currently in the final design stage.