EPHRATA - Chlorination, fixing Well 6 and replacing aging water mains were three of the 11 projects included in Ephrata's water system plan.

The city council heard about the proposed projects during a presentation by a Gray and Osborne engineer at a recent city council meeting. The city is in the process of updating its water system plan. The state requires cities to update the plan every six years and submit the plan to the state Department of Health to review.

"Capital improvements are necessary for the city largely due to growth and the aging of the city's infrastructure," said Jim Bricel, a Gray and Osborne engineer. "Quite a bit of the city's infrastructure was actually constructed back in the '50s."

The older pipes are being gradually replaced, he said. Three of the projects listed involve replacing older pipes.

One of the largest is the final phase of water pipe and road replacement project. The project is expected to finish in 2012 with replacing pipes and repaving roads in the northwest section of the city.

The city received a state Public Works Assistance Account loan for $2.7 million, which will pay for the bulk of the estimated $3.2 million project.

"I think it's been a great contribution and the city has done an excellent job putting that whole project together," Bricel said. "I remember when (Public Works Director) Bill (Sangster) first came up with that idea ... I thought, 'How could you think about doing that. That's just an incredible amount.'"

The entire project included about 80,000 feet of pipe, and several cities are envious of being able to fix the issue of aging pipes all at once, Bricel said.

Two other projects are aimed at replacing pipes, both are tied to the Department of Transportation paving Basin Street, Bricel said. One is an estimated $1 million project to replace cement and steel water mains along the street in between Third Avenue Northwest and 14th Avenue Northwest. A second estimated $1.6 million project would replace the same type of pipes between Apple Lane and Third Avenue Southwest.

"These are some of these older pipes built back in 1956," Bricel said. "The idea here is to time these such that they would be able to take advantage of the state's paving of Basin Street ... We're in coordination with them now, but they don't actually have (the paving) on their schedule yet."

The state normally would have paved the street between 2013 and 2016, but problems with state funding pushed the project back to sometime between 2016 and 2017, he said.

"The idea there is, we could save on the paving costs, because nobody likes to tear up new streets," Bricel said.

Along with replacing the pipes, the plan includes an estimated $924,000 project to chlorinate each of the city's seven wells. The move follows several problems with non-acute coliform bacteria. The city has reported several spikes in the bacteria during the past few years, according to city reports. The bacteria is considered generally harmless, but can indicator more potentially harmful bacteria in the system.

The city hired Gray and Osborne to study possible ways to chlorinate the water, Bricel said.

If the contamination appeared more frequently, the state could mandate Ephrata start chlorinating its water, he said.

"My understanding is the city would rather not chlorinate unless they have to, but if you get into a situation where there are problems with (bacteria,) then that's a potential," he said.

A related project is studying Well 6. The well was related to discovery of Escherichia coli bacteria, commonly known as E. Coli, in April 2010. Routine tests showed a single occurrence, and as part of the investigation Well 6 was shut down. The plan calls for an estimated $170,000 investigation of whether the well could be rehabilitated or needs to be abandoned.

"These wells aren't cheap," Bricel said. "If you can make use of that one that would be great, but if it's not worth throwing good money after bad then you might as well drill a new one."

Other projects include increasing water pressure in the east side of the city, making a new well and replacing a well motor.

Sangster explained the projects are ranked.

"They are a little like the six-year street plan as well, where, sometimes, all of a sudden the chlorination comes to the head of the line, because it's either going to be funded or we're required to do it," he said.