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Minot proposes another water well in Sundre Aquifer

New well to help with water supply

Drought conditions and increased water demands have led the City of Minot to plan for construction of a new well in its Sundre aquifer this spring.

The new well is needed for additional raw water capacity in event one of the city’s existing wells goes down, Public Works Dan Jonasson said. Last summer when water usage peaked at 12.8 million gallons and wells went down, it created problems, he said. That loss of supply led to water restrictions.

Minot, which not only supplies water to NAWS but treats water for North Prairie Regional Water District, sees demand increases across the board in the summer due to watering, washing cars and farmers using water for spraying.

“Although Minot uses about 80% of the peak demand, all of the systems see an increased demand during summer months,” Jonasson said.

The Minot Water Treatment Plant also has dealt with limited treatment capacity last year of only 12 million to 13 million gallons a day. Even with average demand of 8 million to 10 million gallons a day in the summer, Minot has had to impose water restrictions several times in the past 10 years due to the limits of well capacity and treatment capacity.

With a recently completed expansion, the plant now can treat 18 million gallons a day, but only 14.3 million gallons a day is available with all existing wells running and none down for repairs, Jonasson said. Mechanical problems can take a well down for some time because of the often long wait times for parts and repairs.

Estimated to cost $750,000 to install, a new Sundre well will provide 1,500 to 2,000 gallons per minute. The Environmental Impact Statement for the Northwest Area Water Supply project states Minot will have firm capacity to treat 9 million gallons a day from the Sundre Aquifer.

“Currently, we don’t have 9 MGD capacity from the Sundre, so this new well not only provides insurance or backup raw water capacity, it meets the firm capacity noted in the EIS,” Jonasson said.

The Minot City Council voted Tuesday to authorize negotiation with Houston Engineering for design, bidding and construction of a new Sundre well and the use of NAWS sales tax dollars for funding.

The Minot Water Treatment Plant has been supplying area communities through NAWS with about 750,000 gallons a day on average, Jonasson said.

The eventual completion of the NAWS construction will enable Minot and area communities to draw water from Lake Sakakawea, easing the reliance on Minot’s aquifers. Among NAWS items still to be completed are a biota treatment facility under construction at Max and an intake structure.

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