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BY KIRSTEN SRINIVASAN
kirstens@nwitimes.com
219.933.4158 | Friday, August 29, 2008 | (1 comment(s))
CALUMET CITY | The city's freshwater capacity during a drought and the role of backup generators in controlling stormwater during a power outage were on the minds of Calumet City officials Thursday.
City officials hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new $2.73 million freshwater pumping station.
"(The freshwater pumping station) is important because it supplies water to the entire town," Calumet City Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush said.
The age of the system demands the infrastructure improvements, which are the result of many years of planning and financing with bond money, she said.
The old freshwater station was built in 1924 and with each expansion became more disjointed, said Thomas Nagle, vice president and senior project manager for Robinson Engineering.
The city is working with Robinson Engineering, Metropolitan Industries and Gaskill & Walton on the freshwater station, which should increase the city's water capacity by nearly 20 percent to 13.8 billion gallons of water a day. The companies hope to complete the freshwater station sometime around April, Nagle said.
The additional storage should increase firefighting capacity and offer greater capacity to the city during peak periods of use and extended seasonal droughts. The station already is automated.
The new freshwater station will be located along Stewart Avenue, just west of Greenbay Avenue, using as much of the existing infrastructure as possible, and its architecture will match City Hall, Nagle said. The current station will be retired once the new station is operational.
Officials also gathered Thursday to listen to the hum of new generators at the stormwater pump station at State Street, east of Burnham Avenue. The $771,000 project allowed the city to replace 22-year-old generators and install new components and upgrades.
"The stormwater pumping station eliminates high water flow," Nagle said.
The station already was automated, but without reliable backup generators, the city could flood if the stormwater station lost power, Qualkinbush said.
The new generators now are in an enclosure outside the building to protect them from corrosive gases the combined stormwater system gives off, Nagle said. They also are more efficient and less noisy, which will be nice for businesses and residences in the area, he said.
Robinson Engineering is preparing an estimate for a new stormwater pumping station in the next three months because the building is outdated, Nagle said.
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Great Job wrote on Aug 29, 2008 3:53 PM: