Flush for flushing

 
New well makes Newcastle’s water an even bigger selling point
 
Alexis Barker
NLJ Reporter
 
The addition of well No. 5 to the city’s water system will only increase the sustainability of an already great system, according to City Engineer Mike Moore. 
For a rural area, Newcastle has a water system that does not need treatment and can meet users’ needs for years to come. 
The addition of No. 5 was “a long time coming,” with its origins being in a master plan prepared in 2000. 
“In the master plan, well 5 was proposed to ensure that the city would have an adequate long-term water supply,” Moore said. 
Currently, Newcastle has four wells, one of which (No. 3) is not operational because of an issue with a portion of the water line. 
Well No. 1, located near the city shop, was completed in 1949. This well, the oldest, has a capacity of 1,500 gallons of water per minute. 
Wells No. 2, located in Dow Park, and No. 4, located near the city shop, were completed in 1959 and 1978, respectively. Both have a production capacity of 450 gallons per minute, according to Moore. 
The capacity of the wells is based on open flow conditions and will decline unless pumped, Moore said. For example, the production of No. 1 is 1,500 gallons per minute, but it will drop to 800 gallons per minute under system pressure unless pumped. 
“The wells are two to three thousand feet deep and are completed in the Madison aquifer, a geologic formation consisting of limestone rock.” Moore explained. “The water is of high quality, requiring no treatment to meet public drinking water standards. The wells are under artesian pressure, meaning the water flows at the surface without a pump and the water is considered hard due to the calcium from the limestone.” 
There are three water tanks in the city’s water system. Tank 1, which is tan, is located north of Newcastle on U.S. Highway 85. It was constructed in the 1940s and has a capacity of 2.5 million gallons. Water in the tank comes from well Nos. 1, 3 (when operational) and 4. 
Tank 2, which is orange, is located south of the city and was constructed in the 1980s. This tank also has a capacity of 2.5 million gallons and is supplied by well No. 1. 
Tank 3 (green) is located uphill and north of tank 1. This tank was constructed in the 1990s and also has a capacity of 2.5 million gallons. The tan tank supplies the green tank with a booster pump. 
These water tanks, according to Moore, provide storage that allows the system to meet peak instantaneous flow demands, which the wells themselves would not be able to meet. The tanks maintain stable system pressures and have storage to meet fire flow requirements. 
“The city’s primary well is well 1. Well 1 is then supplemented by wells 2 and 4,” Moore explained. 
Moore added that the age of well 1 makes it appropriate to assume that the potential for issues is there. 
“That is a long time for any type of infrastructure to be in place,” Moore said. “Hopefully, it will continue to produce, but when you have a well that long, there is the potential to start having problems.” 
Thus the need for another well.
“If well 1 was to go down, and the city only had the wells it currently has, we wouldn’t have enough capacity at peak demand,” Moore said. “Without well 1, the city wouldn’t have enough water.” 
According to Moore, well No. 5, once added to the city’s water system, will give the city an alternate source of water, should well 1 ever go down. Well 5, Moore explained, will also allow for future growth. 
“The city’s water master plan looks out to the future and tries to project what the future use is going to be.” Moore said. “As the city grows, it is going to need more water and well 5 helps to meet that need.” 
The city’s water master plan was completed in 2000 and sets out a planning period of 25 years, from 1998 to 2023. The population of Newcastle in 1998 was estimated at 3,265 – 4,205 if you include the Salt Creek Water District, West End Water District and Cambria Water District, all of which use city water. A report included in the plan estimates that the population of Newcastle will grow to 4,245 people in 2023, or 5,467 when including the other districts. 
The report also estimated, according to Moore, that maximum day water use in 1998 was 1,626 gallons per minute as opposed to the estimated maximum day water use of 2,110 for the year 2023. 
“It was recommended the water supply system be able to satisfy the demand with the largest well out of service,” Moore said. “In 1998, that would have reduced our capacity to 950 gallons per minute, less than the maximum system demand of 1,625 gallons per minute. Subsequently, considering well No. 1’s age, an additional well was recommended in the report to be drilled to serve as a backup. Well 5 is the result of this.” 
No. 5 has a production capacity of 650 gallons per minutes and is being added to the system. It was drilled in 2016 near the city shop and Nos. 1 and 4. 
“At this point, we are at the stage of working with an engineering consultant to design the tie in of well 5 into the water system,” Moore said. “We have the well. We have the funding, and now we are working out the contract with the engineering consultant to design the project.”
Moore expects that the consultant will begin the design phase after the first of the year. 
“After the review and approval of the plans, the project will go out to bid. We hope to have the bid in early spring for summer construction,” Moore said. “Estimated substantial completion of the project is October of 2020, with the plans to start in summer 2019.” 
The completion of No. 5 is 100 percent agency funded through the Wyoming Water Development Commission and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, Moore said. 
According to Moore, 67 percent of the tie-in project is being paid for with WWDC funds, while the state revolving fund provides loan money for the city’s 33 percent match. 
“The loan is a 30-year loan at a low interest rate that qualifies for 50 percent loan forgiveness,” Moore said. 
The cost to connect the well into the water system, and other related improvements, is $740,000, Moore said. And the project is Wyoming Water Development Commission eligible. Another $304,322 in related water system improvements will be done, but those are not eligible for WWDC funds. The drilling and completion of No. 5, which is WWDC eligible, has a price tag of $786,803. Total project cost is $1,831,125.
The water system construction, Moore said, will meet Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality requirements and requires a permit. Moore noted that the system is also subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act, a federal law established in 1974 that ensures safe water to the public. 
“The city is very fortunate to have a water system that has high quality, ample capacity, does not require chlorination or other treatments and has artesian pressures that require minimal pumping,” Moore said.