The village’s engineer believes Richmond will need a third well and a third water tower if it is to meet water demands in 20 years.
Darrel Gavle of the Baxter & Woodman engineering firm reported to the newly appointed Village Board infrastructure committee this week that the firm’s evaluation of the water system is 80 percent complete. The study is assessing the village’s water requirements to the year 2015. It assumes a population by then of 1,900. The present population is slightly over 1,000.
A third well was “the most critical deficiency for the village,” Gavle said. He recommended a shallow aquifer well with water treatment facility on the southeast part of town.
The village has two wells. No. 1, built in 1926 “was not constructed well, even 70 years ago,” Gavle said. No. 2 is 30 years old and the village’s major producer.
Second in priority was a 300,000-gallon elevated storage tank on the southwest side, possibly near the village’s new park. The two existing tanks store 200,000 gallons, combined. By 2015, 500,000 gallons of storage was recommended.
The wells and tank would improve the low water pressure on the south side, where officials are now concerned that water supplies could be insufficient for firefighting.
“Now we have two different engineers’ opinions on the subject.” said Trustee Steve Weber. “We have to take the recommendation and develop some kind of plan . . . that will be realistic for the future.”
