Residents and business owners in Thornton will see their water bills go up this summer as the city works to fund a new $75 million water treatment plant.
One of the city’s two water plants, located east of Washington Street and Thornton Parkway, was built in the 1950s and its gradual deterioration is quickly becoming a drain on the city’s maintenance budget.
Now, said Mark Koleber, Thornton’s water supply director, the facility is at a point where is doesn’t make sense to keep putting a Band-Aid over the problems.
“There are pieces of that plant that are falling apart,” he said. “And it costs too much to keep it going as compared to rebuilding it.”
Koleber said that the facility is needed to ensure that the city can meet its water supply demand. If it isn’t replaced and fails, all of the water treatment would fall to the Wes Brown Water Treatment Plant at 3651 E. 86th Ave. It was renovated several years ago and holds 50 million gallons of water, but that isn’t enough.
The city hopes to replace the original Thornton Water Treatment Plant around 2018 or 2019.
A new plant would be built next to the old one. To do that, officials will raise water fees across the board in May, pending approval from City Council.
The average household will see its bill rise by about $9 per month, Thornton spokesperson Todd Barnes said. The standard family bill now is about $41.50.
The extent to which the rate increase will affect business owners depends on several factors, including the physical size of the business and how much water is used there.
The city is working on a water rate calculator, which will go live on its website next month.
“People can get their specific account information and plug it into this calculator, and it will just tell them what their new bill is going to be,” Barnes said.
There are many residents in Thornton who are not on traditional bill payment programs.
The city offers payment options like budget billing, where the city’s utility provider averages annual water costs and devises a set rate for the user each month, and the water assistance program, in which an income-qualifying resident can have a portion of their bill subsidized by the utility company.
Those who use those services will still be affected by the citywide increase. For people on the assistance program in particular, the city will make sure they’re not suddenly in over their heads.
“Everyone’s water rate will go up, but we’ll also increase the amount of money available to Thornton residents who are in the water assistance program,” Barnes said.
A City Council public hearing on the rate increase it set for 7 p.m. March 31 at City Hall.
Increased water rates in the city won’t fund only the new water treatment plant, Koleber said. A rate consultant has formulated a plan for all of the city’s water needs for the foreseeable future.
One of those needs is the Thornton Water Project, a pipeline to funnel water from the Cache La Poudre River in Fort Collins to Thornton sometime in the next 10 years.
The city has been working on that project since the mid-1980s. Its current cost estimate is between $400 million and $500 million.
“We have plans to increase our water supply between now and when the pipeline comes online, and we anticipate that the Thornton Water Project will be delivering water to the city by the mid-2020s,” Koleber said. “All of it is necessary to meet the needs of the city” as far as increasing water supply and maintaining quality.
