Here’s the release from the Town of Castle Rock:
Town Council recently awarded a construction contract to Moltz Construction, Inc., Salida, Colo., who will begin construction of the Plum Creek Water Purification Facility next month.
Castle Rock Water owns water rights that date back to the 1860s. Part of the Town’s long-term water strategy is to start tapping into more of those rights to enhance the current water supply.
Plum Creek Water Purification Facility will enable the Town to collect and treat that water, which will provide a renewable and sustainable supply for the Town. Renewable water sources include water rights on East and West Plum Creek; reclaimable water discharged to East Plum Creek; lawn irrigation return flows; and future imported surface water.
When this facility begins operation in 2013, the Town will essentially transition from a mostly nonrenewable water supply to 35 to 40 percent renewable water.
The water purification facility will have an initial treatment capacity of four million gallons per day and will be expandable to 12 million gallons per day in the future. The average Castle Rock household uses an average of 400 gallons per day, which means this facility will produce enough water to supply 10,000 homes per day.
The project is being funded through existing certificates of participation. The Water Department budgeted $22.6 million for the entire project, including wells and pipelines.
This facility comprises just one component of the Town’s Legacy Water Projects – the goal of which is to transition the Town to 75 percent renewable water by the time it is built out. All of the Town’s water currently comes from nonrenewable wells.
There are two other major components to Legacy Waters:
•The purchase of water storage space in Rueter-Hess Reservoir, which will open next year near Parker
•A partnership with a long-term water provider to purchase future water resourcesConstruction of the Plum Creek Water Purification Facility is planned to be complete by March 2013. For more information, go to CRgov.com/pure.