By Richard Kerns
rkerns@newstribune.info
Tribune Staff Writer
WESTERNPORT – Work is expected to begin soon after the start of the New Year on a $2.4 million upgrade to the Westernport water treatment plant that will set the stage for extension of lines to the NewPage paper mill, the town of Luke and possibly Bloomington.
Eventually, town officials hope to replace water lines throughout Westernport and install meters on more than 400 homes that now have unmetered service.
Town Councilman Thomas “Tuck” Martin, commissioner of water, said federal and state funding is lined up for the first phase of what the town envisions as a multi-million-dollar, three-stage water system improvement effort. The Maryland Department of the Environment is contributing $1.3 million to phase one, the USDA $1 million, and the town $130,000.
“It's signed, sealed and delivered,” he said.
The phase-one work, which is expected to take about a year, will be largely confined to the water plant on Chestnut Street, where the filtration and other equipment will be brought up to current standards. The plant last saw major improvements more than 15 years ago.
“Everything at the plant itself will be renewed and replaced,” Martin said. “It will be brought up to date to meet all current and pending water treatment standards.”
The work will not expand the plant's treatment capacity, which will remain at a maximum of 1 million gallons a day. Westernport currently uses about 540,000 gallons a day, however 30 percent or more of that usage represents loss to leaks in a distribution system that features pipes 50 to 100 years old.
Westernport residents will likely see little difference in their service as a result of the project. However, boil water advisories like a weeks-long warning issued last fall should largely be a thing of the past, as the upgraded plant will be better able to treat cloudy or “turbid” water.
The second phase of the water system improvement, which has yet to be fully designed, will erect a new water-storage tank at a high elevation on Westernport Hill, just outside of town. In addition to improving water pressure in homes near the water treatment plant, the new tank will serve a planned distribution line to the NewPage mill and the town of Luke, which currently receives its drinking water from the mill, where the massive operation includes a full-fledged water treatment plant.
As spokesperson Patsy Koontz has said in the past, NewPage is anxious to “get out of the water business,” to save money and improve its competitiveness. Currently the mill treats millions of gallons of water per day, with all but 200,000 gallons used for a manufacturing process that does not require potable water.
Eventually, water lines might be extended from the mill about a mile up Route 135 to Bloomington, which faces expensive upgrade requirements for its small water system.
Martin said federal and state agencies are supporting the various water projects because they want Westernport's system to be capable of providing treated water to as many people as possible. “They're funding us because they want us to be a regional water system,” he said.
Revenue from the new outside users would also help Westernport keep in-town rates at their current level, Martin said.
NewPage is expected to pay about $100,000 a year for its potable water service. That revenue stream would pay off the town's share of the phase-two work in five years, Martin said, and would in turn help fund the phase-three work involving replacement of the aging water lines in Westernport.
Until those lines are replaced, most in the community of 2,100 will likely see little improvement in their water service. That's because even water treated to the highest level of filtration and purification must travel through a network of antiquated, corroded lines that are prone to leaks and subject to frequent repair work that produces cloudy or even muddy water.
Those leaks also cost the town in chemical expenses for treating water that never makes it to the tap. While the town currently treats about 540,000 gallons a day, that number could be almost cut in half with extensive line replacement, allowing Westernport to serve NewPage, Luke and Bloomington, essentially at current production levels.
With word that the town will likely be able to sell raw water to NewPage from the reservoir (See sidebar story), Martin is optimistic that the pieces are finally falling in place for a new and improved water system that will serve the town for generations. “It's like putting a new engine in a car,” he said.
Westernport, Md. —
