Improving and expanding our water resources has been designated as one of Riverton City’s top strategic priorities by our elected officials to ensure we have the water we need for our future. I’m pleased to announce an innovative project that will expand our culinary water resources. This project will allow us to 1) increase our culinary water supply in Riverton using a sustainable source, and 2) help us keep culinary water rates low in the years ahead for our residents.
Made financially possible through a partnership with Salt Lake County, we will install a reverse osmosis filtration plant on the city’s best culinary water well, the Green Well. Reverse osmosis is a common process, used throughout the world, to purify water and improve overall quality.
Since the city fully transitioned to purchasing water wholesale from Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District (JVWCD) in 2015, the city’s culinary water wells have been unused. This presents us with an opportunity to reengage an asset that has tremendous potential. The reverse osmosis plant installed at the Green Well will improve the water produced to a quality that meets or exceeds that of JVWCD water.
Salt Lake County has provided $3 million in America Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds allocated to the county by the federal government to support the project. Riverton City is providing $600-$700 thousand in ARPA funds allocated to the city by the federal government, as well as providing the Green Well asset, which has received roughly $2.2 million in city investment to date since construction began on the well in 2011.
Installation of the reverse osmosis plant on the Green Well will begin this fall. Riverton City has contracted with Total Water Management to complete the project. The Green Well building, located near Dr. O. Roi Hardy Park, will be expanded to house the plant and a variable flow drive pump will be installed on the well to manage water pressure. We anticipate the project being completed by June 2023.
Once complete, the water produced at the Green Well, and purified by the reverse osmosis plant, will be used to supplement the city’s culinary water supply. Given that quality will meet, and possibly exceed, the quality of water provided by JVWCD, residents can expect little to no change in their culinary water taste, hardness and overall quality. As part of the partnership with Salt Lake County, water produced at the Green Well will also be provided to the Riverbend Golf Course at a reduced rate, saving county taxpayers nearly $100,000 per year for the next 20 years.
It is anticipated that up to 1,300 gallons of treated culinary water will be produced per minute, totaling over 1.8 million gallons per day. This equates to filling a projected 30-45% of the city’s culinary water demand, depending on the time of year. The increase in culinary water supply will help us keep water rates for residents low in the future as our city approaches build-out in the next 10 years. Riverton City will continue to purchase water wholesale from JVWCD, but the addition of Green Well water will reduce the amount of water the city would otherwise need to purchase from JVWCD as the city approaches build-out, likely saving hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for Riverton residents.
Please visit rivertonutah.gov/well for a listing of Q&As and other information about the project.
Original source can be found here.
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