Explainer
Yuma's Agua Viva water plant has a well it can't use. A $906,810 filter would fix that.
Agua Viva has three wells but filtration for only two. On Wednesday, the Yuma City Council takes up a $906,810 filter that would change that, plus nearly $3 million to repair a water reservoir that inspectors found deteriorating.
Founder & Publisher
- Published
Full article
Yuma's Agua Viva Water Treatment Plant has three groundwater wells. Each one is rated to pump 3 million gallons a day. Add them up and you get 9 million.
But the plant can only filter 6 million gallons a day of that groundwater. So one of the three wells sits unused, waiting on equipment.
On Wednesday, the Yuma City Council will consider buying that equipment. The council will also consider spending nearly $3 million to repair a water storage reservoir at the same plant, after an inspection found its roof structure deteriorating.
Neither item is the kind of thing that makes people stop scrolling. Both are about whether water keeps coming out of the tap.
The well that's waiting on a filter
Most of Agua Viva's capacity is on the surface-water side. Its membrane system can treat 20 million gallons a day. Alongside it is a groundwater treatment system, installed in 2005, that removes iron and manganese from well water. That system uses three large horizontal pressure filters and tops out at 6 million gallons a day.
According to the staff report, only two of the three wells can be used right now because the existing filters are near full capacity.
The proposal is to add a fourth filter vessel. That would lift groundwater treatment from 6 million to 9 million gallons a day and let all three wells run.
The City wants to buy it without competitive bidding from Pureflow Filtration Division of Whittier, California, for $906,810.16. Staff call it a sole-source purchase because Pureflow built the original system. Their argument is that matching the existing vessels and controls avoids compatibility problems with equipment that's now 20 years old. The budget set aside for the project is $3.2 million. If it's approved, work would start in early January and wrap up by June 30, 2027.
The staff report explains the reason in one line: expanding groundwater treatment "is needed" to strengthen supply reliability during a multi-year drought and possible cuts to Colorado River allocations.
That's a reasonable thing for a desert city to want, especially this year. Yuma Informed has written about the new federal river rules and about the City's senior water rights, which generally put it ahead of the Central Arizona Project when shortages hit. Having more groundwater treatment ready is a hedge either way.
The report leaves out some things we'd like to know. It doesn't say how often the plant actually needs that extra 3 million gallons a day. It doesn't say how the extra pumping would count against the City's Colorado River entitlement, if at all, or how the wells have held up over time.
There's also a paperwork wrinkle. The report's funding table lists the Wastewater Operating Fund as the source, which is odd for drinking-water equipment, and it shows a total of $0.00 next to $906,810.16 in City funds. Staff also say the FY 2027 budget has room for it. These are probably just form errors. They're still worth a quick answer from the City before the vote.
The reservoir with roof problems
The second item is a $2,956,140 contract to recoat and repair Agua Viva's Storage Reservoir No. 1, which is about 20 years old.
The most recent inspection, done with the tank drained, found deterioration of the rafters, girders, roof plates and roof. Staff warn that without repairs, that could lead to corrosion and long-term structural damage.
Two companies bid:
- Paso Robles Tank, Inc. of Paso Robles, California: $2,956,140
- TMI Coatings: $3,955,875
Staff recommend Paso Robles Tank as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. The money would come from the City's 2025 capital improvement bonds for the water fund. The budget for the project is $4.16 million, so the low bid comes in about $1.2 million under. Work would run from Dec. 7, 2026, to Sept. 4, 2027.
The report doesn't say how the plant will keep water flowing while one of its storage tanks is out of service for roughly nine months. Big utilities handle this all the time, so it's probably not cause for alarm. Residents might reasonably want to hear it from the City, though.
Where this goes next
Both items are on the agenda for the council's Oct. 21 meeting. The filter is a purchase motion and the reservoir is a bid award, so either can be approved in a single vote.
Together, they come to about $3.86 million. That money buys some extra groundwater treatment capacity, and it protects storage the City already has.