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OKLAHOMA CITY – The Grove Municipal Services Authority received a multimillion-dollar low-interest loan Tuesday to renovate its water treatment plant.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board approved a $7,050,000 loan that is to be coupled with $270,000 in local revenue for the extensive project. The announcement was issued by J.D. Strong, executive director of the agency.
Jim Ford, Chairman and Kenneth Fitch, Trustee of the Authority appeared before the board in support of the loan application.
Blueprints indicate the funds will be used to construct two raw-water intake pumps, two rapid-mix tanks, four water-treatment basins; to equip four sedimentation basins with an automatic track-mounted sludge vacuum and three rapid sand filters; to replace the dual media in the treatment plant’s six existing filters with multimedia; to enlarge the 300,000-gallon clearwell where treated water is stored before being pumped into the distribution system; to install two high-service pumps, and to modify the existing sludge lagoons to increase capacity.
Grove draws raw water from Grand Lake and cleans and disinfects it in a 4.4 million-gallon per day treatment plant. Treated water is stored in six standpipes and an elevated tower that have a combined capacity of 5.35 million gallons, officials reported. The town’s distribution system consists of approximately 200 miles of water mains and half a dozen booster pump stations.
The Delaware County municipality has 5,681 water customers, ledgers reflect. Water connections in Grove increased 16 percent in the past eight years.
Joe Freeman, chief of the Water Board’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated that Grove utility customers will save an estimated $2,115,000 in interest charges over the 20-year life of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan, compared to traditional financing.
Since 1983 the OWRB has approved more than $2.9 billion in loans and grants to improve and enhance the water and wastewater infrastructure needs of communities across Oklahoma.
“We thank state Sen. Charles Wyrick and state Rep. Doug Cox for their support of our programs,” Strong said.