Paducah Water’s board has approved a $250,000 study that will look into the feasibility of a new riverbank filtration system.
Paducah Water general manager Bill Robertson says the system would improve water quality by filtering algae, leaves and sticks before the water gets to their treatment plant.
“Our well screens might be as much as 80-100 feet below the river when we put them in there, so the water has to filter through the rock and the dirt and the sand and all that stuff until it gets to our screens," Robertson said.
If it's determined the system is a fit on the Ohio River at Paducah, the full cost of implementing it will be between $4 million and $7 million, but Robertson said he doesn’t anticipate a rate increase for the utility's customers.
“We have a capital replacement and expansion fee that’s part of our everyday bill and we think we’ll have enough cash flow to go ahead and pay for this with what we’ve got," Robertson said.
Permitting work has begun and water management company Layne should be able to determine if the proposed system can work in Paducah over the next 3-4 months. Robertson said he is confident they will give Paducah Water the go-ahead to build.
