From The Sterling Journal Advocate (Jeff Rice):
Merino Town board approved change orders for the town’s nearly-finished water purification and delivery system Monday night during a short, emergency-delayed meeting.
Boyd Hanzon of Rocky Mountain Water Solutions, primary contractor on the new water system, told the board the system could be up and running in a few weeks if the appropriate branch of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment signs off on at least one of the system’s three settling ponds. The ponds are necessary for disposal of the impurities filtered out of the water.
Two of the ponds were found to have leaks during testing, Hanzon said, but the third pond is satisfactory. The system can run with only one pond, he said, so J.B. Wright & Associates, the on-site supervising company, has submitted a conditional certification report to the state.
“The (reverse osmosis) system is set up and ready to go, but we need a place to put the waste,” Hanzon said. “I hope to hear back (from CDPHE) sometime this week, and once we get the go-ahead on that one pond, we can start using the system.”
Hanzon said once the two damaged ponds are repaired, all three will be re-certified, but for now the system can run with just one pond.
There was just one catch, however. Hanzon said three small change orders need to be implemented in order to fully automate the system and make it accessible via remote control. The system can be accessed by certified users using internet connections, which means the system can be controlled by people in Merino and at the headquarters of the company that built the RO system. The remote control and automation means Merino doesn’t need a staff on-site to run the system.
The four attending trustees approved the change order in a 4-0 roll call vote.