The Stanley Common Council and city staff had a chance to tour the Central Water Treatment Plant addition off Church Street at 5 p.m. Monday, July 20, prior to committee of the whole.

With city employee Joe Schmitt acting as tour guide, council members and staff got an inside look at the new addition set to replace a 56-year-old water treatment plant built under former mayor Willard Mortenson.  A later water treatment addition from 2013 will remain on site, tied into the new addition. Total approved project cost for the new plant addition is $10.23 million, which includes Well 3 rehabilitation and treatment upgrades for water softening and iron and manganese removal, as well as PFAs treatment.

All told, the 2026 plant addition comes complete with Clean-In-Place (CIP), reverse osmosis, pre-filter, and PFAs train technology, as well as tanks to hold the filtered water. Reverse osmosis will be used for water softening, with PFAs captured in resin for disposal via an anion exchange. PFAs has historically been used in manufacturing due to its non-stick properties and is most common in urban industrial sites. Levels of PFAs in Stanley are extremely low, the federal government issuing new guidelines which require the city to test for this and other contaminants. Any PFAs trapped will be held in a resin for disposal and will not enter city water.

The new addition to the central water treatment plant meanwhile is similar to the northwest treatment plant but is newer and will use gas chlorine rather than liquid chlorine for treatment purposes, allowing for greater control, as well as having a designated lab room as well as a bathroom. The new addition is being built on elevated ground due to the nearby Wolf River, a large garage door allowing for air filtration with dehumidifiers used as well. A mezzanine in the new plant addition will allow for storage.

The new addition will also have a chemical room with interior windows to monitor stock. Water will flow into the plant from two wells,  moving through filtration before being stored in two tanks on the north side of the plant.

Project design and engineering for the Central Water Treatment Plant is being provided by CBS Squared, with Market and Johnson acting as general contractor. Water Surplus Inc. is supplier for the treatment process equipment.

If all goes well, the plant will tentatively be ready by mid-September, with several weeks of stable operation planned before transitioning to the next phase, which will see demolition of the 1970s era central water plant.