Study offers suggestions

The city has adequate well pumping capacity, but not for the future, study says.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- The city must spend $6.8 million over the next 20 years to assure a water supply that will keep pace with growth.
The projection is contained in the draft of a report by MS Consultants Inc. of Youngstown based on a six-week study of the city's water system.
City Service Director Don Wittman said Tuesday the conclusions are about what he anticipated through his own study of the system.
The study doesn't suggest where the city will get the money to pay for the improvements.
Wittman told city council in January that it would take "substantial planning" and a large expense to provide adequate water supply and storage capability for future needs.
The city gets its water from six wells sunk on two fields -- the northern field is behind city hall and the southern at Willow Park.
Wittman said that if either of the well fields were to fail, the city couldn't meet its current demand.
The six wells were sunk as needed from 1938 to 1986, Wittman said.
Suggestions
The study said a third well field should be developed, including installing a 12-inch line connecting it to the distribution system.
Also, the study recommends that two 200-gallon-per-minute wells be sunk in each of the two existing fields, with another 12-inch line connecting them to the distribution system.
The existing water storage system does not meet Ohio EPA standards for current demands.
The study calls for building a 1 million gallon elevated storage tank. Wittman had said that such tanks generally cost $2 per gallon, thus a 1 million gallon tank would cost $2 million.
Other recommendations are a study of well field efficiency and replacing the chlorinating equipment and controls.
The city currently uses 596,000 gallons a day. With an anticipated annual growth rate of 2.1 percent, by 2026 the daily demand will reach 967,000 gallons a day, officials said.
MS said the aquifer tapped by the wells contains enough water to support the city's needs for 20 years. The current pumping capacity satisfies Ohio EPA Agency regulations now, but not those of future needs.
yovich@vindy.com