Appleton's 5 year old water system in trouble.

This is an example of just how wrong thing could have been if the citizens group in Fond du Lac would not have taken on the city staff on this issue. Again thanks to all who worked on this and thanks again Concilman Thiesfeldt for taking the lead for the citizens. The whole City of Fond du Lac is the winner.

Courtesy of The Daily Reporter (http://www.dailyreporter.com).

Appleton (AP) - Taxpayers and water customers may be forced to handle expensive repair costs at a water-filtration plant that has not produced at its promised capacity five years after being built.

Safety of Appleton’s drinking water isn’t at issue, but city officials are considering spending millions on improvements, increasing water rates and taking legal action against companies involved in the $54 million project.

“The bottom line is litigation is the avenue of last resort,” said Mayor Tim Hanna.
The water plant was designed to filter 24 million gallons of water each day during summer and 18 million gallons a day in winter from Lake Winnebago when it began in 2001.

Last winter, capacity was measured at less than 10 million gallons a day. Now, capacity is close to 24 million gallons, according to Utilities Director Mike Buettner, but algae and sediment have added to the problems.

“Lake Winnebago water really changes, and those changes can be very extreme,” Buettner said. “You need to have a facility capable of treating water on the worst days.”

Former alderwoman Jo Egelhoff said Appleton officials have “failed the community” by not thoroughly scrutinizing the technology plans while the plant was being built.

“It’s leadership’s responsibility to ask the right questions, especially in response to large red flags,” said Egelhoff, who served on the Common Council from 1993 to 2003.

Most of the problems stem from the advanced filtration system, which has been prone to break down. The ultrafiltration technology was not included in initial plans for the plant, which aldermen approved in August 1997 as a two-phase project.

Price increase
But the project’s price tag grew from an original estimate of $54.3 million to $62.7 million after engineers determined more filtering was needed.

Soon after, then-Utilities Director Duane Leaf recommended the project be done in a single phase, at the original lower cost of $54.3 million and that ultrafiltration be used.

“It was presented as an innovative system,” Alderman Walter Kalata said. “The city spent a lot of money on studies, the reason being to get the brain work to help us make the right decision.”
Egelhoff said her vote for approval was based on the less-costly option.

“The issue was presented having nothing to do with the ultrafiltration technology but rather with the efficiencies of a one-phase versus two-phase approach,” she said.

The first mention of trouble to the Utilities Committee came in April 2002, according to meeting minutes.

Leaf told the panel the straws in the ultrafiltration system were breaking but that Koch Membrane Systems was providing free replacements. Later meeting records indicate the breaks peaked at more than 2,000 per month.

“We are very committed to the city and have never stopped working with them,” said Nicholas Powell, vice president for municipal business at Koch, which provide the technology. “Eventually, this plant will be just what it is supposed to be.”

Higher rates
Hanna said the city is working diligently to fix the problems.
“We are committed to continue optimizing operations to produce what we paid for at the plant,” he said.

City Finance Director Lisa Maertz said the lower capacity has prevented the city from selling water to neighboring communities to help offset costs.
Maertz said if water capacity could be improved so the city could sell water to neighboring communities as originally hoped “financially that would help us tremendously.”
Regardless of the long-term outcome, Appleton water plant customers are likely to foot the bill for added expenses to date.

A recent draft of water rates proposes overall increases of 33 percent, including 25 percent for typical households. That would amount to about an extra $80 a year, according to Maertz.
Alderman Jeff Jirschele, head of the Utilities Committee since April, said it’s important to act quickly.

“We have a challenge to meet that doesn’t leave a lot of time for casting blame and pointing fingers,” he said.

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