Mt. Pleasant well project moving on schedule

The new Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities well on the corner of East Cedar Lane and North Hamlin Street is moving along. Pipes used for drilling on the new Mt. Pleasant Utilities well.

Part of a 25-year infrastructure plan with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the well has been in the works for at least six years.

Land was purchased six years ago for the project, eight acres were purchased for the site of the well. The $3 million project is in the works on the site. The site will be a city park and well treatment site once the project is complete, it will be considered a joint use site.

“To save funds for the public, we have been working this project in three pieces,” said Mt. Pleasant Municipal Utilities General Manager Jack Hedgecock. “The core project is installing a new Jordan Aquifer well, to replace an existing well that was in place in 1946. The project will utilize the older well as a backup source, once the new well is on line.

“That is considered Package 1, the well drilling process. Cahoy Pump Services, of Sumner, Iowa is drilling the well.”

“There have been a lot of equipment breakdowns and soil anomalies with Package 1,” Hedgecock added.

The expected completion time for the drilling process is February of this year. This will produce a 1,900 to 2,100 foot well that will handle 2,000 gallons per minute. Expected completion cost is $1.8 million for this portion of the project.

Package 2, estimated at $827,300, was issued to Woodruff Construction of Tiffin, and is on target for May or June of this year.

This package consists of equipping the well, perimeter fence, all of the underground piping, the piping apparatus inside the building, running pipe to the raw water line, adding the controls and the electrical portion of the well.

“They have the building foundation and the below grade piping completed,” said Hedgecock. “They will start framing the building this week. They are at 50 percent and still have a lot of work to complete. Their goal now is to get a structure completed to be able to get out of the weather and complete the inside work of the building.”

Package 3 is the raw water main installation. The main will run the treated water from the well back to the utility’s treatment plant.

“Bid package 3 is done, it was done on time with no delays,” said Hedgecock. “That leaves us with packages one and two.”

The new water treatment plant, an $8 million dollar investment, is expected to be completed some time in 2024 and in service in 2025. “We will start engineering that later this year,” said Hedgecock.

The well will allow for more treated water to be produced over a shorter period of time. The current treatment plant puts out 1,000 gallons per minute. The new treatment facility will put out a targeted 2,000 gallons per minute.

“The actual physical parts of the job were started in July,” said Hedgecock. “All of what we are doing now is on the behalf of keeping the system in good shape for the future. This well is, essentially, a backup well for the well at Oakland Mills. With all the growth that the city has experienced, it is very necessary. This well was in the plan thirty years ago.”