Thanks to $6 million in stimulus funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Ocean Shores, a city of approximately 4,500 permanent residents on Washington State's Pacific coast, will finally get the water treatment plant it has needed for over 20 years.
After years of struggling to find a cure for its taste and odor and disinfection by-product problems caused by high organics, hydrogen sulfide, iron, manganese and ammonia in its groundwater supply, the city recently completed a successful pilot plant study that identified a solution. Greensand filtration followed by the MIEX® Ion exchange process was selected as the most cost effective treatment option. However the city is part of a state-designated economically depressed area, and initially did't have funding to build the system.
The Ocean Shores Shallow Aquifer Water Treatment Plant project became a reality after receiving approval for a $6 million ARRA loan, half of which qualifies for a forgiveness grant, in late April 2009.
"We are excited to have now cleared all of the administrative hurdles to allow us to receive the ARRA funding," said Dean Bunkers, Mayor of Ocean Shores. "The stimulus money is now flowing into the project with a contract signed with the manufacturer, Orica Watercare, on August 25th to supply a 2 MGD MIEX® System. Meanwhile our design engineer, Brown and Caldwell, is working on a schedule to provide the citizens of Ocean Shores with cleaner and better tasting water by early 2011."
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