Utilities Authority Receives Permit for New Water Treatment Facility

The Lacey Municipal Utilities Authority has applied for a loan to cover the costs of a new water treatment facility, Chairman Jim Knoeller said.

“We’re going to try to go with a conventional loan,” Knoeller said. The loan would save in bonding costs, which could otherwise amount to more than $50,000.

The loan through Ocean First Bank would be up to $2.5 million but the LMUA is hoping to borrow $1.5 million, he said.

The water treatment facility will be used for township wells, including two new ones, which the LMUA just received a water allocation permit for through the state Department of Environmental Protection, Knoeller said.

“All we have to do now is build the plant and then we could use those wells,” he said.

The LMUA should know whether it received the loan by the third week in February, he said. The plant will take about a year to be fully operational.

In the future, the LMUA hopes to Wells seven and eight are 1,500 and 1,600 feet deep and will provide excess capacity, Knoeller said.

Each well cost $1 million and a total of $2.5 million for treatment, he said. The main reason for installing two new wells was to maintain non-contaminate water and to offset increases.

Since the wells will provide more water than the township needs, the LMUA will look to sell water to neighboring townships, Knoeller said.

The wells are expected to be in service by the end of 2012, he said.