Stutsman Rural Water District is continuing plans for a water reuse plant to provide industrial water to the planned $3 billion CHS nitrogen fertilizer plant at Spiritwood.
Bob Keller, project engineer for Bartlett and West, reported on the plans to the Stutsman Rural Water District Board of Directors Tuesday.
Keller said plans call for construction of two buildings a short distance apart. One would be operated by Stutsman Rural Water District and would process greywater from Cargill Malt, Dakota Spirit AgEnergy and Spiritwood Station before mixing it with water from the Spiritwood and Jamestown aquifers and filtering the combined water.
This water would then move to the second building, a plant operated by CHS, which would then purify the water to meet its needs.
Geneva Kaiser, manager of Stutsman Rural Water, said this would allow Stutsman Rural Water to process and sell water to other industrial users that may not require the high-quality water CHS needs for its processes.
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The water treatment plant's location has not been finalized. Preliminary engineers' estimates place the cost at about $150 million. The North Dakota Legislature authorized a $10 million grant and $40 million in low-interest loans for the project.
If constructed, the CHS plant will require 3,800 gallons per minute of water. CHS is currently on hold with its construction plans while plans to meet its water requirements are finalized and it completes negotiations with contractors.
Kaiser said Stutsman Rural Water was continuing to negotiate contracts with greywater suppliers and CHS for the plant. This process is resulting in some expenses for the water district.
"The legal expenses are not cheap," she said. "I have a hard time justifying these expenses if they (CHS) do not come through."
In other business, the Stutsman Rural Water District Board reviewed possible rate increases for its largest users. Kaiser said the increased fees, if implemented, would be used to cover costs of upgrades in capacity necessary in some areas.
Kaiser said only 3 percent of its users require 30,000 gallons or more of water per month but utilize 28 percent of the total water sold by the water district.
Stutsman Rural Water currently charges a monthly minimum of $37 per month for customers of its original system and $47 per month for customers in areas of new expansion. On top of these minimum fees, the water district charges $4.50 for each 1,000 gallons used.
The average user on the system requires between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons per month during the summer and about 4,000 gallons per month during the winter, Kaiser said.
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Heaviest users are farm operations that are filling water tanks for livestock or sprayer tanks for farm chemical applications.
Keller said as use continues to grow, some areas may require additional water lines to increase volumes available.
Kaiser said some sort of demand charge that increases the costs for large users would be fairer than increasing costs to all users.
