Expect harder water in short term as new water plant equipment is installed

As work on the water treatment plant continues, the City of New Rockford has announced that the next phase of construction will require a temporary water treatment process beginning this week.

Currently, the water treatment plant uses lime softening to remove various metals from New Rockford’s water, but over the course of the next month, a new system for softening the water will be installed.

According to Water Plant Manager, Rick Swenson, while that construction is underway, New Rockford’s water will temporarily be treated by a new chemical that will “sequester” the iron and manganese in the water.

The City of New Rockford does not expect any outages during this time, and ensures that the water will still be safe to drink and will adhere to the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines while the temporary treatment process is being used.

The city does note, however, that the quality of water may vary from time to time while construction is underway, and Swenson told the Transcript on Wednesday that New Rockford residents should expect the water to be harder.

An exact timeline of how long the temporary treatment process will be used is not available, but the new plant is scheduled to be fully operational in early May.