Winter Springs approves city drinking water system upkeep proposal 

Amidst traded barbs and criticisms, a proposal for an over $500,000 refurbishment for parts of the drinking water purification system used at one of Winter Springs’ drinking water plants was met with approval by the city commission at its Dec. 9 meeting. 

The equipment at Winter Springs Water Treatment Plant I, known as an anion exchange vessel, is a key component used in purifying drinking water and has met the end of its useful life, Winter Springs Director of Operations Brian Dunigan, who at the time of the last meeting served as interim city manager, said.

There are two other city plants that do not need this refurbishment. 

“What we’re talking about is improving the water quality,” Mayor Kevin McCann said about the proposal. “This will improve the taste, the smell. Know that this is improving water quality in Winter Springs, yet another step.”

The commission voted unanimously to approve the proposal for an amount not to exceed $534,171, which Dunigan said includes a 10% contingency allowance and also factors in the cost to replace some of the equipment’s grid components if they are no longer able to perform properly. 

“There is a consideration that there are some internal components that are better than we expected, and that would obviously yield a lower price to the final work,” Dunigan said. “If they get into the refurbishment process and find that there are some grids inside of here that have become essentially so calcified with this media filter that those grids need to be replaced, then there would be a potential higher cost.”

“I think [Carollo Engineers, which contracts with the city on water system engineering] has demonstrated that this filter has reached the end of its useful life, and to the best of our ability, we’ve tried to project what those costs are going to be based on the information we have available at this time,” Dunigan said. “Obviously, there are no absolutes in life. There are no absolutes in any construction project.” 

While he cannot guarantee that there won’t be a need to ask for additional funds, Dunigan said part of staff’s responsibility is to mitigate any risks once the project goes live. 

“If we see that we’re going down a path that this thing is going to start taking on a life of its own financially … then we have staff and partners for Carollo that are going to essentially … prevent us going down that track,” Dunigan said. “That is something that not only our staff would take very seriously but Carollo as well along with the water plant operators, that we need to be very calculated when we do this type of work. There needs to be a financial mindset that is looking at this as well as a practicality standpoint, to make sure that the treatment process is not compromised for an extended period of time for our residents.”

Commissioner Paul Diaz asked Dunigan how much was already known about refurbishment needs as far as understanding what components may or may not be usable. 

“I think, commissioner, what you’re asking is how bad is it going to be based on previous jobs that are similar in scope,” Dunigan said to Diaz. “And my answer right now would be, we just don’t know until we get in there.”

Once the refurbishment work is authorized to begin, Dunigan said, they’ll have a better idea of what else the project might entail. 

He said a hypothetical “doomsday scenario,” like a standard vacuum truck not being powerful enough to remove material from the equipment’s media filter, could arise during the project and potentially incur additional costs. Dunigan explained, however, that city staff and Carollo Engineers water consultants have both factored those considerations into the proposal. 

“That’s not the answer we want either, because we don’t want to go into this project with a bunch of unknowns,” Dunigan said. “But due to the complexities of the refurbishment process, I don’t think we have all those answers but … we were very strategic in making sure that we laid out worst-case scenario and asked for consent for those scenarios and we’re very hopeful that we don’t end up expensing that full $534,171.” 

A major reason for the project are the potential risks to the city’s water if it is not done, McCann said, as the plant previously exceeded the federal limitations on the acceptable amount of chemicals found in the water, known as total trihalomethanes, which can be hazardous to human health if exposed over time to levels in excess of the highest allowed amount. 

“This equipment was put in place to help solve that problem and has helped lower those Trihalomethanes and improved the water quality for the safety of our residents,” McCann said. 

According to the Florida Department of Health, total trihalomethanes or TTHM “are a common contaminant group of organic chemicals that often occur in drinking water as a result of chlorine treatment for disinfectant purposes to kill bacteria, viruses, and other contaminants that could cause serious waterborne infectious disease.”

​​The city’s water system was in violation of federal and state water quality standards for total trihalomethanes in 2017, with the following year’s report stating that in January of 2018, “the City completed Ion Exchange water treatment improvements at an approximate cost of $6 [million] to eliminate the TTHM MCL exceedance, as required by FDEP.”

According to the city’s most recent annual drinking water quality report, the city’s water did not violate any of the regulations set for the maximum amount of contaminants allowed in drinking water, including total trihalomethanes. 

Before initially making the motion to approve the proposal, Commissioner Cade Resnick said he felt comfortable that the quoted amount for the project will be maintained, and maintained the importance of the equipment for the city’s drinking water. 

“I was around when we first implemented [the ion exchange],” he said. “Here we are, eight years [later]. That’s a good life for what it’s done … I think the time frame is exactly where it needs to be. It does cost a lot of money, but it’s not a small water home filter; this is a massive unit. To me, it’s a worthwhile item that we need to make sure the water is doing what it’s supposed to.” 

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