Huntingburg’s water treatment plant facing up to $1.2M repairs

The Huntingburg Water Utility is looking at up to $1.2 million to repair two filters at the city’s water treatment plant, according to a presentation made to the City Council by Commonwealth Engineering.

The filters, part of a 2019-2020 plant upgrade, began leaking about two years ago. The issue affects filters five and seven, with filter five leaking between 10 to 15 gallons per minute and filter seven leaking three to six gallons per minute.

“In a 24-hour day, that really adds up,” Water Superintendent Jerry Austin told the council Tuesday evening.

The plant has been running without those two filters while the issue is investigated, but according to Austin, this means the other filters are operating at a higher capacity.

“Running the plant at a little higher capacity rate will over time deteriorate that filter media faster,” Austin said.

He pointed out that IDEM requires them to operate with eight filters but they have been running six with permission from IDEM while investigating the issue.

John Wetzel, project engineer with Commonwealth Engineers, presented three potential solutions to fix the leaking filters, all with similar costs ranging from $980,000 to $1.03 million for construction, plus an additional 20% for non-construction costs. The total project cost estimate ranges from $1.18 million to $1.24 million.

The water treatment plant was originally built in 2003, with an upgrade completed in 2019-2020 that doubled the plant capacity from 800 gallons per minute to 1,600 gallons per minute. The upgrade added a second treatment train with four new filters.

The leaking filters are part of a complex system where the concrete structures extend approximately 20 feet below the floor level of the building. Each filter measuring 12 feet by 12 feet contains specialized media for water filtration, with a false floor containing hundreds of nozzles that allow water to drain through.

Plant personnel have already investigated the issue by using cameras to inspect drain pipes and measure water loss rates but have been unable to pinpoint the exact location of the leaks.

Commonwealth has exhausted all other options for how the water is leaking without removing the flooring, filters and other structures. They are recommending removing the filters and media to determine what the actual problem is and then repair it.

“We know it’s below the filter media,” Austin said. “We’re, our hands are kind of tied as far as what avenues we’re going to take. We’ve looked at all the valve possibilities, cracked pipes, everything.”

The repair process will be labor-intensive and complex. Workers will need to remove the filter media, take out the troughs, and remove the false floor to access the concrete walls and floor where the leaks are suspected to originate.

“Everything that’s done is pretty much manual labor,” said Austin. “There’s no way to get equipment in there. Everything is going to be carried out in buckets and shovels and handheld jackhammers.”

After repairs, the filters will need to be rebuilt with new components, including all new filter media, as the existing media cannot be reused once removed.

Once that is complete, Commonwealth recommends they coat the concrete walls and floors to stop the leaks.

Three potential coating solutions are presented to seal the concrete once repairs are made:

1. Polyurea coating – a spray-on product commonly used in wastewater applications
2. 100% solids epoxy – a high-build material applied about a half-inch thick
3. Cementitious crystalline material – a coating applied to existing concrete

Austin told the council he would like to go ahead and coat both filter cells completely, even if specific leak points are identified, to prevent future issues.

“Once we get there and we remove that media, I feel that it’s best to continue to finish the project out in its entirety and coat those cells. So we’re not doing this again in a couple years,” Austin advised.

The council discussed several financing options for the project, including:

1. In-house financing through the Energy Utility with a five-year repayment term
2. State Revolving Fund (SRF) loans, which would require additional paperwork and fees
3. A five-year bond anticipation note with potential refinancing at the end of the term

Council members express concern about the utility’s ability to make payments within the required five-year timeframe for in-house financing.

“Looking at 2023’s data, it looked like there’s ample coverage in there to maybe come up with a couple hundred thousand a year paid off in five years,” Buzz Krohn, with Krohn and Associates, the city’s financial advisor, said.

If the water utility is unable to pay off the loan completely, the city could also refinance the balance at the end of five years.

The council agreed to proceed with investigating financing alternatives while Commonwealth Engineers gathers more information about the coating options. The project timeline suggests advertising for bids in July, receiving bids in August, and starting construction in fall 2025, with completion in early 2026.

In the meantime, Clerk-Treasuer Tom Dippell is evaluating financing alternatives and will bring recommendations back at a future council meeting, at which point they will consider authorizing preliminary design work.