Water District to cut costs thanks to “miracle additive”

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

The Webster County Water District held it’s monthly meeting at the County Water Plant in Onton Thursday morning.

Water district superintendant Paul Lashbrook reported to the board that the plant was preparing to start using a ‘miracle additive” in the water treatment process. This chemical can drastically cut the amount of certain other chemicals that go into the water treatment process, saving the county more than $35,000 per year.

“The increases of our electric rates have us working to save money every way we can,” he said. “I believe we owe it to our customers to run as lean as we can and keep our costs down.”

Although hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) might seem like an unlikely water additive, the Webster County Water District will not be the first water district in the area to use it. Lashbrook told the board that Providence, Butler County and the Crittenden-Livingston Water District are already using it.

According to US Peroxide (H2O2.com), “The use of H2O2 as a pre-oxidant in municipal water treatment is well documented and has been practiced for over 20 years. Historical applications of H2O2 in drinking water have been:

•Taste and odor control

•Hydrogen sulfide removal

•Iron removal

•Ozone enhancement/destruction”

The Water District was scheduled to begin using the peroxide treatment on Monday.

For the second straight month, water production amounts were higher than they had been for the same month in 2012. That makes only the third time in 2013 that production had shown an increase.

“A lot of that is due to our annual line flushing,” reported Lashbrook. “We’ve got 500 miles of line that we have been flushing at night.”

Production reached the 33,131,600 gallon mark, topping October of 2012 by 5,883,000. That’s also the highest month of either 2013 or 2012, but for the year production is still 2,474,265 gallons lower.

Lashbrook said that the lower water usage is possibly due to customers cutting back on utility usage.

“Everyone is getting more conservative with their utilities,” he said. “Water and electric. Yes, we are getting customers, but they’re just using less water.”

Lashbrook also reported that flushing the water lines at night seems to be paying off. Water customers have made far fewer complaints than they do in a normal year, possibly because flushing during the over night hours does not affect customers daily routines.

At a recent  county-wide meeting to rank water and waste water rehab projects, the water district’s water tank rehab project was ranked #1 in Webster County.

The water tanks at Oak Heights and Vanderburg are both do for rehabilitation work. In December of 2012, the district paid $250,000 to rehab and paint it’s tank in Dixon. It is estimated to cost around the same amount to complete the work on both of these tanks.

“If we can do both tanks at one time, or one right after the other, it will probably save us some money,” reported water district chairman Jimmie Frederick.

“The group that did our Dixon tank did a great job,” added Lashbrook. “But normally when they do a tank, one might be here and the next one might be in Northern Ohio. You have to figure the cost of moving the equipment and people into the job. If they could get two tanks right together it might save us some money.”