Population growth had stressed the capacity of the City of Grimes water system. There was only one reliable well and it could not meet demand on a peak use day and water quality from the Jordan aquifer well was not good. The filtration and zeolite softening treatment plant delivered safe and reasonable quality water, but the treatment capacity was even less than the well.

We evaluated and then compared the relative cost of developing and treating a new source of water to connecting to the Des Moines Water Works. Long-term costs of the alternatives were close but the City chose developing and treating its own source of water to maintain control of future community growth.

We designed and administered construction of a 1.8 MGD lime softening treatment plant and 400,000-gallon ground storage reservoir that provides excellent quality water and meets all regulatory and aesthetic requirements for a projected 20-year life.

Cost saving features of this expansion included locating the plant adjacent to the wastewater plant to take advantage of available lagoon space for lime sludge disposal and developing a unique pumping system to prevent the need for an expensive new elevated storage tank in the distribution system.