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condition and challenging river source water that could be really adaptable . During different times of the year based on what ’ s occurring we can decide how to treat the water the most cost-effective way , and still assuring our citizens and industries that our source water is of the highest value .”
“ We need the plant to be really adaptive ,” Feland says .
“ We looked at how we ’ re going to treat source water that ’ s challenging to begin with , and how we could build a plant that had to be a fiftyyear plant on a hundred-year site .”
The project will cost approximately $ 150m , which will partly be funded by the state of North Dakota who are paying 50 percent of it , along with rate increases and possible sales tax and the ‘ Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund ’, a long-term loan with a low interest rate with terms of 2 percent for 30 years .
Inspiration Before starting construction , Feland and his team carried out bench-testing with various types of technology and also took field trips to look at what
Dr . Michael R . Brown
Mayor of Grand Forks , North Dakota
systems other facilities employed . One was in the suburbs of Denver , Colorado , where they also use membrane technology ; however , the source water there , coming from the mountains , is cleaner .
They also looked at the central Minneapolis area and Fargo , which is 80 miles south of Grand Forks , and where they also use a membrane facility .
“ That plant is further into construction than we are ,” Feland explains . “ We can draw a lot of inference from
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