City of Flint November 18, 2021 Update: Four Major Water Infrastructure Projects Near Completion

FLINT, MI — As part of Mayor Sheldon Neeley’s commitment to ensuring transparency around the city’s four multi-million-dollar water infrastructure projects, he is pleased to announce the latest updates toward ensuring the highest quality of water for residents and businesses.

New Chemical Feed Building – This project included constructing a new state-of-the-art building, located at the Flint Water Treatment Plant, and other related infrastructure projects to ensure the City’s water is treated safely and effectively. The new Chemical Feed Building has been equipped to supply and store vital chemicals (sodium hypochlorite, sodium hydroxide and phosphoric acid) in three separate chambers. The structure also features ample storage to house bulk chemicals, new scales to monitor and weigh chemicals, and a new SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system to monitor 24/7 chemical feed functionality both quickly and efficiently. What previously took 20 minutes now takes only 2 to 3 minutes.
• To date, most all necessary equipment has been installed.
• Following extensive staff training and testing, the building is scheduled to be in service under official control by the City of Flint on December 17, 2021.

Secondary Water Pipeline – This critically important project will provide the City of Flint with a needed backup water source, Genesee County Drain Commissioner (GCDC), for the City’s use in case of an emergency. The project is currently at Phase IV, increasing the incremental water blend to 75 percent for the secondary source (GCDC water pipeline) and 25 percent to the primary water pipeline (Great Lakes Water Authority [GLWA]) in adherence with the State of Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act and the City’s agreement with GLWA.
• The City of Flint’s secondary water pipeline is near completion, and will serve as a back-up water source in the event of an emergency. Phase V, which will increase the incremental water blend to 100 percent for the secondary GCDC water pipeline, is tentatively set to begin the week of November 22.
• Only cosmetic, debris cleanup and similar punch-list tasks remain.
• The projected timeline for completion of a fully operable secondary waterline is on schedule at or around the beginning of the year 2022.

Control Station 2 (CS2) – Efforts of this project will result in the replacement of two old cone-style actuator valves, consisting of a 36″ valve for winter low flows and a 60″ valve for summer high flows, with a new 24” butterfly actuator valve. The new design will better meet the needs of the City’s population by improving the flow of water coming in from the GLWA.
• The four butterfly isolation valves will be replaced so that at any time should CS2 be taken out of service, GLWA could continue supplying water to Flint.
• CS2 experienced settling over the years, which also led to cracks inside the 36” actuator valve. As a result, all of the pipes to and from the vault will be replaced with new ones along with proper bedding to avoid future settling.
• Restoration of Control Station #2 (CS2) is on track to begin November 30, 2021.
• The City is awaiting the arrival of parts expected by the end of the month, to ensure work is completed by the end of the year. See the following link which includes the most recent CS2 project schedule.

Dort Reservoir and Pump Station Projects: (underground storage tanks)
(Dort reservoir) Work has been completed to rehabilitate a 20-million gallon reservoir to supply water to Flint residents. The work also included concrete and roofing repairs as well as the addition of two new ladders for workers to safely access reservoir wells.
• This project has been completed.

(Dort pump station) Work continues toward redesigning the pump station to better meet the needs of Flint. New technology has also been added to control the speed of the water from the Dort pump station into the Flint water system.
• This project is on track to be completed as scheduled.

Important resident reminders:
• For the latest updates on the progress of Flint’s water infrastructure projects, visit https://www.cityofflint.com/progressreport/
• Water monitoring will continue as all major infrastructure projects are completed. Monitoring results are available on the EGLE’s website at www.michigan.gov/flintwater.
• For water emergencies or issues with water service call (810) 766-7202 [water] and (810) 766-7079 [sewer].This line is monitored 24/7.
• For non-emergency questions or concerns, email [email protected]. This email is monitored by DPW department staff.
• Mayor Neeley will continue to provide weekly community updates on WFLT 1420 AM and via Facebook on Saturdays.

The City of Flint will continue to provide residents with updates on water infrastructure projects as information becomes available.

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