New water treatment facility could save Prior Lake, SMSC millions

Prior Lake American

Construction is underway on a water treatment facility that will be shared by the city of Prior Lake and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.

The city and the community previously had conversations about partnering on water supply nine years ago in an effort to reduce impacts to groundwater.

The Prior Lake City Council approved an agreement with the community in November 2017 to share the water facility, which is near Spring Lake Regional Park.

“Due to redundancies that must be designed into these types of facilities, there is a significant cost savings with a joint facility,” according to a council memo from November 2017.

The water facility — estimated to be complete in summer 2019 — will be able to remove iron and manganese from drawn ground water by converting them into filterable solids, as well as provide storage for treated water.

Currently, the city of Prior Lake has an agreement with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community to purchase up to 1.2 million gallons of water for $1.54 per 1,000 gallons per day from the community to meet water needs. Once the facility is operational, the city will be able to purchase up to 2.2 million gallons of filtered water for $1.90 per 1,000 gallons per day starting July 2019.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is paying for the construction of the first half of the facility for nearly $15 million. The city’s contribution for the facility is capped at $2.5 million.

The city will also extend water lines from a well that was not used much in the past to the new facility, for about $1 million. Once that happens, the community will be able to purchase untreated water from the city for 20 cents per 1,000 gallons.

“It’s an easy sell to both sides of the aisle,” Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Engineer Steve Albrecht said during a tour of the facility on Monday. “This plan is about an $8 million (combined) savings for the two communities.”

The facility will be able to treat up 3.5 million gallons per day. As each community grows in size, two filter cells can be added later on at the expense of the city of Prior Lake for a capacity of up to 4.8 million gallons per day.

The facility is estimated to service Prior Lake for 25-30 years, Albrecht said.

“We are hopeful that will get stretched out further if we are using our water efficiently,” Albrecht said.