Estimated hikes of $10 to $15 a month for residents have been talked about, but final numbers are still being tabulated. And crucial factors in determining those rates have changed since they were first used — one positive and one negative.

The negative change, of course, is the $2.7 million growth in the projected cost of the treatment plant to built on Broadway Avenue, improvements to the treatment plant on St. Julien Street and other related projects. The positive development is the way the project will be initially financed.

The city is eligible for a low-interest state loan to cover the entire construction cost, something that will result in a reduction of anticipated interest payments of $5 million to $6 million, Giesking said. There’s also potential that the size of that loan will fall.

That’s because St. Peter officials believe they have a good chance to receive about $2.8 million in federal economic stimulus funding for the project. Final word should come in August, Giesking said.

Softer, cleaner
Residents might see some savings in water-softening costs to offset the rise in water bills. The new plant and the St. Julien plant will use reverse osmosis water filtration that will reduce the level of chloride in the water, something that might become vital if state standards for chloride discharge into the Minnesota River are added in the future.

A byproduct of that filtration system is softer water, Giesking said.

Reverse osmosis process has detractors, though, because it produces a substantial amount of waste water — as much as 10 to 30 percent, Kvamme said.

“The reverse osmosis is controversial because a percentage of it is loss,” he said.

The council addressed that issue in part by adding a third filtration system to the plan that will filter the waste water from the reverse osmosis process, allowing a portion of it to be returned to the drinking water stream, Giesking said. Reverse osmosis also leaves the city best able to deal with unanticipated changes in drinking water standards imposed by state and federal governments.

And by adding reverse osmosis to the St. Julien Street plant, the city expects to avoid a contentious issue in the city two decades ago — complaints that one end of town received lower quality, and less tasty, water than the other.

The estimated completion date of the project is May or June 2011.