Water Works

After discussing, researching and tirelessly working to secure loans and grants, the Malta City Council is ready to enter into what they hope is many water projects, the first an estimated $6.4 project set to begin within the next few months.

The bids by contractors for the project are expected to be opened on Wednesday (March 30) and the work is tentatively set to begin in mid-April or early May, according to Malta Mayor Shyla Jones.

“Even though I think it will be a big inconvenience to people this summer, this project will be a big convenience to the people of Malta in the future,” Mayor Jones said. “There’s going to be an inconvenience to our downtown for a little while, and to homeowners, but they’re not going to be without water for very long when work is occurring.”

The window to complete the project is 240-calendar days, but that number is soft and is dependent on weather and what crews find when they start digging up the old pipes.

In 2012, the City elected to pursue an approach that concentrates on replacing undersized and deteriorating mains while keeping water rates as low as possible.

The engineering firm of Thomas Dean & Hodgkins (TD&H) of Great Falls presented the seven alternatives in a preliminary engineering report.

“The city has elected to proceed with the replacement of distribution mains which have a history of breaks and leaks and are undersized per Department of Environmental Quality design requirements,” engineers noted in the 2012 preliminary report.

The water project will:

-- replace 2,087 feet of 6 inch pipe.

--replace 23,801 feet of eight inch pipe.

--replace 2,080 feet of 10-inch pipe.

--replace 2,559 feet of 12-inch of pipe.

The water mains would be replaced with PVC water mains.

Isolation gate vales would be installed in a similar fashion to their current locations.

Additionally, 14 fire hydrants would be replaced along the mains.

According to the engineering report, the mains listed for replacement were selected according to the following criteria:

--Priority I: Mains of all ages with a history of breaks and leaks.

--Priority 2: Mains not meeting DEQ-1 minimum size for fire flow distribution.

--Priority 3: Mains that are at or nearing 75 years of age, installed between 1935-1950.

Priority 4: Mains that do not supply needed fire flow per Montana Fire Codes to high use structures such as schools and the hospital and retirement center.

Since the city’s water mains are buried beneath paved streets, primarily, installation cost includes repairing the streets after excavation and installation.

“The trenches will be filled in, but they might not be paved instantly,” Mayor Jones said. “The contractors might wait to repave the holes in big blocks.”

Mayor Jones said the upgrade could improve delivery of water to homes and businesses, but added there are no guarantees.

“The main will be replaced and then every service line connected to that main will be replaced to the curb-stop as well, not all the way to the house,” she said. “So it’s going to possibly help pressures, but I don’t want to say it is going to make the pressure better. The main thing being done with this project is replacing the old pipe, ageing mains and areas where we have had lots of breaks.”

Mayor Jones added that construction will be staggered near routes to the Phillips County Hospital so ambulances will have access to the facility.

It is estimated, at this point, that basic water rates will be increased $15 to $20 a month to pay off the required loans to fund the project.

With the help of Bear Paw Development, the City of Malta has secured State Revolving Fund (SRF) Loan for $5 million as well as RRGL grant and a grant approved through the state’s Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) for $600,000 for initial payments on the project.

A separate project that will soon start in Malta is the rehabbing of the Dobson Lift Station, located on 1st Ave. West, though the timetable for the beginning of that project is yet undecided.

“We’ve accepted a bid and already hired a company but we don’t know exactly when it will start because the materials to order are about 16-weeks out,” Mayor Jones said. “When that does start, that avenue is going to have to be shut off for a length of time but we will work with the homeowners over there to get them in and out of their properties.”

Maps of the water project (like the one shown above) will be posted at City Hall and Mayor Jones said Malta residents will be kept up-to-date each week as the project progresses.