Water plant hums along

With little fanfare, Cloquet's new water treatment plant came online in December and so far things are going swimmingly.

Residents should notice little change in tap water because the plant is filtering a mineral that hasn't been present in recent years, after the city quit using one of its five wells. Now that well - which previously provided 30 percent of the city's water - is back in action, but with no added manganese because of the city's new $6.6 million facility.

Manganese occurs naturally in rocks and soil across Minnesota and is often found in ground and surface water. According to the Minnesota Department of Health, people need some manganese to stay healthy, but too much can be harmful.

Thus, the decision by city officials in 2016 to stop using the well after the state tightened its recommended guidelines for manganese allowances.

In 2017, the city applied for a low-interest loan to erect the treatment plant, which was built over an 18-month period from June 2018 to December 2019. It was built specifically to address the presence of manganese in the water that comes from one of the city's most productive wells, No. 8, located at Pine Valley as well as a second well on Prevost Road.

"This is the largest capital investment in a single project in my time here," Public Works director Caleb Peterson told members of the Cloquet City Council before a tour of the new plant given prior to Tuesday's council meeting.

Kevin Young, a water operations specialist with engineering firm SEH, and the Ross Biebl, utilities department supervisor and one of three people trained to operate the plant, led the tour.

Young said the city treats the manganese, which is mostly present in the well water as a soluble (liquid) by adding sodium permanganate to make the manganese into a solid particle that can be filtered out of the water.

Three large tanks filled with greenish black water visually demonstrate the presence of manganese in the water, which is then filtered through 12 inches of an anthracite coal media and another 6-inches of fine sand. A tap below the filters reveals crystal clear water.

"If you take fresh water from well No. 8, you might see a flake of two [of manganese] but the water [in the tanks] clearly illustrates the difference before the water is filtered and what comes out of the bottom of the filters," Peterson told the councilors.

Biebl passed around a bucket of filtered water to show the councilors the change from the dark colored water. After its filtered, the city adds other chemicals like flouride (for dental health) and chlorine to the water.

If and when the state develops a drinking water standard for manganese, the city will meet that standard, Peterson said. It already meets the recommendations issued by the Department of Health, both for health and the aesthetic quality of the water.

Biebl said city staff and SEH advisors it took a few weeks to make sure the plant was operating properly and finetune the system, but said water from Well No. 8 has been part of the city's water since December. He explained that the plant is largely run by computer, and will only require about two staff hours a day for testing and other checks to make sure things are running properly.

Other matters discussed by the council at its meeting after the tour:

• Welcomed new city administrator Tim Peterson to his first council meeting. Peterson started Jan. 13.

• Approved change orders to the library addition that decreased costs for the HVAC system and other minor design elements. The council added back several elements that were previously cut to meet the budget, including a new central circulation desk, new carpet in the stack area and display cases in the entrance hallway. The changes resulted in approximately $20,000 in added costs.

• Approved a zoning ordinance text change that more clearly addressed residential uses in the historic commercial district in the city's West End and Dunlap Island. The change allows apartments in the back of a building's ground floor with a conditional use permit as long as no more than 50 percent of space is used for apartments. All of the upper floors may be used for apartments.

• Approved hiring a search firm to begin the process of hiring a new police chief, in part to keep the process as transparent as possible. The estimated $23,000 cost of the recruitment firm would be offset by the savings generated by having the city administrator position vacant for four months.

• Supported an application to designate Pine Valley a regional park. If regional status were granted, the city would be eligible to apply for funding toward improvements in the park, which is already a hub for running and skiing, ski jumping and mountain biking.