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Water supply not a dry issue for Lebanon
Study: City's growing demand could surpass ability to produce water in 4-7 years.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Due to the possibility of being unable to supply the city with enough water to meet growing demand, Lebanon officials are considering purchasing water from Greater Cincinnati Water Works instead of providing it from the city's plant.
A recent study commissioned by the city and conducted by HDR found Lebanon's growing demand could outstrip its ability to produce water in 4 to 7 years.
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Lebanon produces its own water supply from production wells and three treatment facilities.
The city estimates peak water demand could reach 5.7 million gallons a day by 2015, 800,000 gallons a day more than the city is capable of producing.
The city owns one additional site where a water well could potentially be built, but deputy city manager Scott Brunka cautioned that the quality of that water could be poor and require significant treatment.
"We want to be proactive with this issue and make sure we have enough water to provide to the city," Brunka said.
Brunka said the city had investigated the option
of continuing to produce its own water and supplementing
it with water purchased from either the Greater Cincinnati Water Works or Warren County.
However, this option proved to be impractical due to additional costs of chemically blending water from the two sources and did not guarantee a sufficient water supply.
City Manager Pat
Clements said that if Lebanon began purchasing water from Cincinnati, Lebanon would still control distribution and billing.
Clements said a complete switch to the Greater Cincinnati Water Works would provide "a complete and long-lasting solution" for the city's water situation.
"Any of the other options would leave the problem to be solved in 15 to 20 years in the future, if not sooner." Clements said.
Mayor Amy Brewer said she supports the recommendation to begin purchasing water from the Greater Cincinnati Water Works.
"We are looking for businesses and industries to come to Lebanon, and this plays a part in that long-term planning," Brewer said. "If we want them coming here, this is an issue that will play a part in that."
Clements said an agreement with Greater Cincinnati Water Works could take months to reach, and a full switch to buying water would not happen until around 2012.
Contact this reporter at (513) 696-4544 or jmcclelland@coxohio.com.
