Comments on Minneapolis Water Works Based on my personal experience as a citizen volunteer having served on the Minneapolis Water Works Advisory Committee (1999) and CLIC, I can only attest to the professionalism of MWW Director Adam Kramer and staff of Minneapolis' water utility with whom I have come into contact. The MWWAC recommended that MWW utilize membrane ultrafiltration technology for protection of the potable water supply from microbial contamination from chlorine resistant pathogens(Giardia, Cryptosporidium) found in the Mississippi River water source. The need for a Minneapolis-St. Paul interconnection was also reviewed. I refer interested persons to the October 1999 final report from the MWWAC prepared by HDR Engineering.
Regarding the thread on "dopey" security enhancements at the MWW, while not detail familiar with what all may be entailed in the upgrades, I was pleased to see the tightened security and access restrictions to the Fridley facility when attending a meeting there last spring. The MWWAC last convened on April 18, 2002 to hear updates regarding the Columbia Heights Filtration/Fridley Membrane plants and Minneapolis-St. Paul water system Interconnection. At that time Director Kramer indicated he had met with the St. Paul Water Board chair. The two cities were once again discussing the possible interconnection of their water systems, considering a formal study by December 2002. Providing a potable water supply clearly is one of the core municipal functions. I would like to quote from the August 2002 report of the Capital Long Range Improvements Committee to Mayor Rybak and the City Council: (Ultrafiltration Program WTR09/UP01) "Last year, the CLIC Transportation Task Force said, "If CLIC could support only one project, this would be it. Minneapolis--after all--has "water" as its first name. One word: Cryptosporidium." this year, the task force has learned that Minneapolis' Ultrafiltration Plant will be the most extensive in the United States, and that city rate payers may realize significant rate relief if the program can be at least partially-funded through newly created federal and/or state revolving loan funds." The projected cost for the Ultrafiltration Program for 2003-2007 is $133,460,000. Here is some Minneapolis Water Works data taken from the Appendix of the MWWAC report (citing other documents such as the May 1997 HDR Engineering/Malcolm Pirnie or May 1999 Lewis & Zimmerman Associates Value Engineering/Peer Review reports): *Minneapolis installed its first water system in 1867 * Concerns about the adequacy of the city's water supply were raised as early as 1932; a 1933 Report of the Water Supply Commission to the City Council suggested an improved water supply from Lake Superior, Mississippi River, or artesian wellfields sources *MWW capacity for treated water is 160 million gallons/day; St. Paul capacity is 125 mgd *MWW current annual water production is 24,600 million gallons/year (average of 67 mgd) *Minneapolis relies completely on the Mississippi River for its source water *St. Paul draws 70% from the Mississippi River and stores it in the Chain of Lakes (remainder comes from Centerville/Rice Creek reservoir and groundwater) *Mississippi River watershed above MWW covers an area of about 19,100 square miles (from which potential contaminants from human waste treatment plants, animal feedlots, deer etc. can enter the surface waters) *With water restrictions in place, it was estimated that St. Paul's reservoir system could supply it with water for up to 45 days without withdrawals from the Mississippi River Another emerging issue for the surface water source is the presence of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disruptors, according to Adam Kramer. Jeffrey L. Strand Shingle Creek (4th Ward appointee, Capital Long Range Improvements Committee) ======================================================== Message: 19 From: "Becker" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Mpls] Dopey water "protection" scheme Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 18:35:01 -0500 The biggest vulnerability of the Minneapolis water system is a spill in the river. If the river water is not drinkable for a period of time, then Minneapolis has no water...Also, Minneapolis doesn't have a lot of finished water sitting around in tanks. At best, there would be like a one or two day supply in the system depending on the time of year if they had to shut down the river access. Does anyone know if any progress was made on the interconnection question over the last several years? Carol Becker Longfellow _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
