SIRWA to test new system Wednesday

After two years of construction, Southern Iowa Rural Water Association is ready to test its new water treatment plant located east of Creston along U.S. Highway 34.

The test is scheduled for Wednesday.

Southern Iowa Rural Water Association co-General Manager Brenda Standley said engineers told SIRWA customers they should not see a drastic difference in water service during the test. For years prior, Creston Waterworks has been providing water for SIRWA’s customers. Standley said SIRWA and plant designers said it’s possible some SIRWA customers may have stronger water pressure because of the water tower that was also part of the water treatment plant project.

“I don’t think people will see anything different,” Standley said about the test day and SIRWA customers. There are about 11,500 customers.

SIRWA customers who do have concerns or notice differences in water delivery Wednesday are encouraged to contact the office at (641) 782-5744.

Originally, SIRWA was planning on activating its plant early next year, but Standley said construction progressed better than scheduled as it’s possible the plant will be in use in December.

“With all the stories about inflation and supply chain issues across the country during our construction, we were fortunate,” she said about the plant.

The water treatment plant will have a capacity of 6 million gallons a day. The water tower has a capacity of 1 million gallons. Pipe for the project combined for more than 9 miles.

The agreement between Creston Water and SIRWA is set to expire Jan. 21. Both entities are still negotiating an agreement for mutual aid during emergency situations.

SIRWA has been purchasing water from the city of Creston’s water treatment plant at Twelve Mile Lake. Creston Water Works will use Twelve Mile Lake while SIRWA will use Three Mile Lake. Both lakes are east of Creston.

The treatment plant was pursued after SIRWA’s growth using Creston City Water Works facilities. Creston and SIRWA had contractual agreements SIRWA using Creston’s water treatment plant at 12 Mile Lake and paying a percent of how much water was used. SIRWA had more customer growth than Creston’s. Both entities agreed SIRWA would pay for a percentage of maintenance of plant use but as SIRWA’s customers grew in numbers, so did its plant expenses.

SIRWA was paying about 75% of the Creston plant operation, which created the idea to have its own water treatment plant.