Stanwood will add chlorine to its water

Published 10:45 pm Sunday, February 3, 2008

STANWOOD — The water in Stanwood may taste a little different by the end of the year.

Chlorine is planned to be used to treat Stanwood’s drinking water once construction is finished on a new water treatment plant, which could be finished by late October.

The city is building the $2.6 million plant to treat trace amounts of arsenic and hydrogen sulfate, as required by state and federal water standards, Stanwood public works supervisor Les Anderson said.

“The same water has been coming out of the wells for 65 years, but water standards have changed,” Anderson said.

Water from two wells in Bryant that make up 80 percent of the city’s drinking water will run through the treatment plant. The remaining 20 percent of the city’s drinking water comes from Hatt Slough and is already treated by chlorine pumps, Stanwood public works director Andrew Bullington said.

People might notice the odor or taste of chlorine from their water once the new treatment system goes online, Bullington said.

“I’m from California, so I’m used to that,” he said. “I thought the water tasted funny when I moved here.”

The new plant is to be built in a field near Stanwood High School off 268th Street NW. Construction on the treatment plant is scheduled to begin this month.

The Stanwood City Council recently awarded the contract to build the treatment plant to Razz Construction of Bellingham, which submitted the lowest bid of nine applicants.

The water is safe to drink as it is, Anderson said, but having a treatment plant will certainly help.

“Obviously, there are going to be health benefits,” he said.

Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.