CAPE MAY — As Cape May pursues funding to replace its desalination plant, the existing facility continues to show why it is falling short of the job requirements.
City Council introduced a bond ordinance and companion resolution Sept. 16 providing for improvements to the water treatment system for $350,000 in emergency appropriations.
City Manager Paul Dietrich said the water desalination plant continues to get a little bit worse.
“Every year, we go through a process where we repurchase the reverse osmosis filters, do a deep clean, backwash them and kind of refresh them in the off-season for the upcoming summer season,” Dietrich said. ‘The repurchase that we did last year barely made it through the spring, and that barely made it through two weeks ago.”
Dietrich said the filters are not going to make it through to next summer. Repurchasing the filters now will allow the city to replace them during this off-season.
“We need to do this in time, because you have to turn half the plant down, switch them out, and bring it back up,” Dietrich said, adding that he had received two quotes, with both under $350,000.
The emergency appropriation allows the city to forgo the formal bidding process.
“Right now, the lowest I have is $270,000 and we’re meeting with another contractor tomorrow morning and we’re hoping it is going to be a little bit less,” Dietrich said. “We’re getting three quotes to make sure that we’re getting the best value for the ratepayers in the city.”
He added that the extra expense for the filters was not anticipated.
“I don’t want to wait until the new budget year and then try to squeeze them in before the summer season,” he said. “What’s happening [now] is the pressures are building up, and it’s putting a large strain on the internal system. I still need to produce some water for city residents and my users.”
Resident Stacey Sheehan asked if the city was upgrading water membranes for better efficiency, or if it was kind for kind. Dietrich said there are no more efficient membranes for the system.
“Did we look into maybe changing the housing to get better efficiency out of the membranes or not?” Sheehan asked.
Dietrich said it would have been more expensive to make that change.
“We did not explore that cost because it would have been exponential to these costs by probably factor three or four,” he said. “Considering we’re looking at replacing the plant in two or three years, this is really just to get us there and it wasn’t worth spending additional funds to try to do that.”
The second reading and adoption of the ordinance are scheduled for Oct. 7, with final publication on Oct. 15 and an effective date of Nov. 4.
By RACHEL SHUBIN/Special to the Star and Wave
