The Knox City Council’s approval last week of water and sewer rate increases mean infrastructure repairs that have been on hold can move forward. Water Superintendent Todd Gardner told the board of works electrical upgrades are needed in well houses two and three.
He says well house two has failing, antiquated controls that are between 40 and 50 years old. The city is paying a premium for its electrical service to well house three. Gardner says they could save quite a bit of money if they ran service from the water plant instead. That would also allow them to connect the well house to the backup generator.
Gardner says well three’s pumping capacity continues to drop to the point where irreversible damage will occur if repairs aren’t made this summer. He says replacing the well will cost more than $100,000, compared to between $20 and 25,000 for repairs. No timeline has been set for the work.
