Two water treatments considered by village

FORT RECOVERY - Village officials reviewed two possible water treatment alternatives the village could use to soften water.

Marvin Gnagy, owner of PMG Consulting, and Rob Shoaf, owner of Shoaf Consulting, conducted a study of potential water softening alternatives and presented their findings to councilors during a work session on Monday evening.

The current water treatment plant is 40 years old and uses chemicals to treat the village water. One of the most notable reasons for the study is the rising cost of chemicals, which has exploded over the past year or so.

Treatment operating costs from the past three years show the cost of chemicals has increased by more than $52,000 in the last year alone, rising from $180,080 in 2022 to $232,545 in 2023, according to information provided at the meeting. The total 2023 operating cost of the plant is projected at $266,055.

Gnagy and Shoaf proposed a reverse osmosis system or an ion exchange system to treat the water. Both are common treatments for smaller water systems and would remove nearly all water hardness, they said.

The consultants said village officials favor the reverse osmosis system, which treats water by passing it through a membrane. An ion exchange system works by exchanging specific ions for other ions.

Regardless of the system the village might choose, the water plant would also need new pressure filters and a third well for resiliency and redundancy.

The cost of an ion exchange system is projected at $3.996 million and the projected annual operating costs is projected at $112,172, a cost reduction of more than $153,000 annually.

The cost of a reverse osmosis system is estimated at $4.353 million with annual operating costs projected at $56,016, a reduction of more than $210,000 annually.

Gnagy and Shoaf said the combined annual operating costs and debt service costs of a reverse osmosis system are less than the current lime and caustic soda annual operating costs the village has now. They also said the project costs would be paid from the annual cost savings realized by changing softening treatment.

"I've never run into anything like this where the cost of reduction on the operating costs basically paid for the entire improvement," Gnagy said. "In 46 years of doing this, it's the first time it's ever happened to me. Usually it pays for a significant portion, but not completely pay for the project. Again, you'd have to get a loan, but again the loan is going to be paid off of the reduction in operating costs."

The consultants noted that both plans do not call for the construction of a new water treatment facility, which village administrator Randy Diller had said was not necessary.

Shoaf said that the entire project would likely take two years to complete from design to construction. No action was taken after the work session.

The village council meets next at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6 at the village hall.