Overview

The Systemwide Potable Water Distribution Improvements project includes several water infrastructure projects throughout the city. The proposed improvements are the most cost-effective and sustainable of the alternatives studied, and they provide several benefits, which are outlined in the project description below. City Council approved a preliminary design Contract with Donohue & Associates for all improvements at the regular meeting on April 25, 2022.

Project Description

The systemwide improvements recommended by the planning study include:

• Additional storage at the I-55 tank farm
• New pump station and elevated tank in Hamilton Pressure Zone
• New elevated tank in Enterprise Pressure Zone
• Combine the South Main Pressure Zone with the Enterprise Pressure Zone
• Other improvements

The elevated storage and central location will reduce pumping requirements and associated maintenance. The higher elevation will reduce energy usage. In addition, water modeling showed improvement in quality of water service throughout the system when these improvements are implemented.

Funding

While the construction costs are not fully known at this time, City Council approved a preliminary design Contract with Donohue & Associates, in the amount not to exceed $1,497,400, for all improvements at the regular meeting on April 25, 2022. Preliminary design will be paid out of the Water Fund.

History/Schedule

In January 2020, City Council approved a contract with Donohue & Associates for the Division and Enterprise Pump Station Planning Study. The scope of this study was a single, combined pump station to replace the existing Division and Enterprise pump stations. Staff recommended this study based on early drafts of the 2019 Water Infrastructure Master Plan that City Council approved in July 2020. Click here for more information about the Water Infrastructure Master Plan.

In January 2021, City Council approved a contract with Donohue & Associates for the First Amendment to the Division and Enterprise Pump Station Planning Study to develop and evaluate alternative locations for the distribution system improvements presented in the first phase of the planning study. In July 2021, the Division and Enterprise Pump Station Planning Study was completed with recommendations for systemwide distribution improvements to be completed in lieu of the improvements included in the original scope of the study.

The planning study concluded that:

• The Division and Enterprise pump stations are located on the site of the original 1874 Bloomington Water Works which included the water supply wells;
• With City growth eastward over the intervening 150 years, this Division Street location is not optimal for delivery of water to the majority of customers; and
• Keeping a pumping facility at Division Street will require the City to replace the existing on-site storage reservoirs and the transmission mains that lie in an environmentally sensitive corridor through the Town of Normal.

Following the study, staff renamed the project to Systemwide Potable Water Distribution Improvements to incorporate the various improvements recommended by the study.

In April 2022, City Council approved a contract with Donohue & Associates for Preliminary Design for the Systemwide Potable Water Distribution Improvements project. The proposed contract includes the following:

• Preliminary design of piping upgrades
• Additional ground level and elevated water storage tanks
• Upgraded facility requirements
• Financial strategy
• Property purchase evaluations
• IEPA facility plan preparation and loan administration for a pumping facility to replace both the Division Street and Enterprise Pump Stations
• Address other aging and problematic infrastructure associated with these pump stations

Click here to download a PDF of the presentation from the April 2022 meeting. A video of the presentation is available below.