By Nancy Huddleston, Editor

The city of Savage temporarily shut down its water interconnect last week with the city of Burnsville.

Savage Public Works Director John Powell said the decision to close the interconnect was made so that the city can measure the “before” and “after” quality of the city’s water supply. Residents in Savage have complained about odor and taste since the interconnect with Burnsville was opened in August and also about a film being deposited on dishes after they are run through the dishwasher.

Powell said the city has received about 70 calls from residents and has about 8,000 water utility customers.The Burnsville City Council approved the purchase of a granular activated carbon filtration system last month in response to concerns about the taste and smell of its water supply from its Kraemer Quarry Surface Water Treatment Plant. The new filtration system was chosen after using a water testing panel that focused on taste and odor. Powell said shutting down the interconnect while Burnsville makes adjustments to its water treatment methods will allow Savage to more accurately test the differences in water quality when the interconnect is open versus when it is closed. He expects the interconnect to remain closed during the month of December.

The $13 million Kraemer Quarry Water Treatment Plant was built to treat groundwater that was pumped into the Minnesota River from the Kraemer mining operation. It was built in an effort to decrease groundwater consumption.

Savage paid $2 million toward construction of the plant and has a water sharing agreement with Burnsville.

In August, Savage started buying water from Burnsville on a daily basis. When it comes through the interconnect, the water is a blend of surface water from the Kraemer plant and water from wells that has been treated at Burnsville’s other treatment plants.

Burnsville began fielding complaints from its residents shortly after the plant opened about water that smelled and tasted musty and/or metallic. Since that time, the public works department has determined the problem is coming from decaying algae that produces organic compounds in the surface-water reservoir at the Kraemer plant and inconsistent dosages of chlorine at the treatment plant.

The city of Savage has drawn about 130 million gallons from Burnsville since the interconnect opened – an average of about 900,000 gallons per day. Savage is producing 2.9 million gallons per week at its water treatment plants.

The ratio of Burnsville to Savage water varies between 35 to 65 percent, Powell said, depending upon consumption.

Overall water consumption averages 1.9 million gallons a day, which is typical for this time of year, according to Powell. But during summer months when residents are watering lawns, consumption can skyrocket to 7-10 million gallons of water per day, depending on weather conditions.

The city is posting the latest water testing information at www.cityofsavage.com so residents can compare recent data to past data.

The city regularly tests water for barium, radium, fluoride, haloacetic acids, mercury, nitrate, trihalomethanes, coliform, chlorine, copper, lead, sodium and sulfate.

Public works officials from both Savage and Burnsville maintain the water supply meets all Minnesota Department of Health standards.

Powell said calls are being directed to Water Utilities Superintendent Michael Klimers and his staff. Residents with water concerns should call the city at (952) 224-3400.

If residents want the city to come out and take a sample, they will –at no cost to residents. It takes about two weeks for results to come back.

The city is advising residents that a private company has been distributing water kits throughout the area, but this a violation of the city’s peddling ordinance.

Nancy Huddleston can be reached at editor@savagepacer.com.