Granby’s long awaited water treatment plant broke ground this week. Officials from the Town, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and representatives of the various organizations that helped bring the project to fruition were on hand early Tuesday afternoon for the formal ground breaking ceremony.

The new plant is being constructed in the open space area south of the Fraser River and northeast of Middle Park Medical Center – Granby, in the flood plain that currently houses Granby’s water wells that serve the town’s South Service Area (SSA). Excavators, engineers and other contractors began work on the project in late April. Local officials expect the new water treatment plant to be completed in the fall of 2017.

Plans to develop the new Granby Water Treatment Plant were sparked in 2013 when tests on water wells in the SSA, south of the Fraser River, indicated that one of the three wells the Town uses to supply water for the SSA was being contaminated by ground water. The well in question was shut off at that time and Granby began reviewing options for upgrading the Town’s SSA water supply. Options included drilling new wells and building a treatment plant.

“In the end they (the Board of Trustees) determined the best choice for the immediate and long term for the water needs of the entire South Service Area would be to build a treatment facility,” said Granby Town Manager Wally Baird.

The rough price tag for the new plant is $6 million. Granby has received a $2 million grant from DOLA to apply to the project and an additional $1 million from the SilverCreek Water and Sanitation District, which is served by the SSA. The Town is also putting in $1.5 million. The $1.5 million the Town is applying to the project is derived from funds Granby received from the Granby/SilverCreek Water and Wastewater Authority after the authority was dissolved last year.

The Town is borrowing the remainder of the $6 million price tag, roughly $1.5 million, in the form of a direct loan. Baird explained the loan is analogous to a letter of credit and allows the Town to pay back only those funds which are spent on the project.

Freeport-McMoRan, the company that operates the Henderson Mill and Mine Complex in Grand and Clear Creek Counties, also provided the Town of Granby with a $20,000 grant that was used to mobilize contractors early on during the project and get construction moving forward.

Velocity Constructors is overseeing the project. The new water treatment plant will be contained within a single building, roughly 13,000 square feet, that will hold the treatment facility, offices for the SSA water operators and a garage area for equipment storage.

Baird said workmen began unloading foundation forms this week at the job site and he expects concrete pouring to begin relatively soon, after fears of late spring freezes subside. Along with the physical construction of the treatment plant’s building workers will also be required to install pipelines from the SSA’s three wells to the plant and connect the entire system to outflow pipes that distribute water to the surrounding area.

After construction is complete the well that was previously shut off due to contamination from ground water will be brought back online and its water will be filtered through the treatment plant. Officials expect the new water treatment plant to have a lifespan of 50 years or more.

The Town’s water users in the SSA can expect to see a slight uptick in their water bills. Baird estimated residents of the SSA would see an increase of about $52 in fees over the course of the entire year, which goes to helping pay back the loan used to complete the project. The rate changes will only apply to the SSA and not the North Service Area (NSA), north of the Fraser River.

The new plant will utilize a semi-permeable membrane to treat the well water that goes through the plant. The filter, which functions vaguely similar to a reverse osmosis system, utilizes the semi-permeable membrane to remove almost everything from the water besides water molecules.