One week after the Saratoga County water project was approved to go out to bid, some Saratoga Springs residents are criticizing the city’s decision to establish its own water system, separate from the county’s.
The city’s water project would use Saratoga Lake as its primary source and has an estimated price tag of $35 million, which would be paid for by city taxpayers. The county’s water project, which could provide water to Moreau, Greenfield, Wilton, Saratoga Springs, Milton, Ballston Spa, Malta, and Clifton Park, and will be the primary source of water for the AMD Chip Fabrication Plant, has an estimated cost of $76 million, which would come from county coffers.
We should go with the county water project. It’s already been decided. It’s going to happen, resident Dave Bronner told the City of Saratoga Springs City Council at its Sept. 5 meeting. `We should get on board with our neighbors in Saratoga County and get this done, and get it done properly.`
Public Works Commissioner Thomas McTygue took issue with Bronner’s assertion that the county’s plan was a panacea for the city’s water problems.
`The county plan ` there’s no free lunch. Do you want to pay a 55 percent increase in your water bill from the county? Or do you want to pay a 29 percent increase in the city?` he asked Bronner.
Bill McTygue, director of public works, said the city is acting in accordance with the wishes of its people. `This community has not shown any desire to bring water from the Hudson River,` he said, adding, `The county plan is without customers.`
At press time, the county had agreements, but not contracts, to sell water to the town of Ballston and Wilton. Clifton Park had previously agreed to buy water, but has yet to sign a contract.
The city is looking at other water options because demand is putting an excessive burden on its current sources.
The city of Saratoga Springs receives its water from two sources: surface water from the Loughberry Lake watershed and groundwater from the Geyser Crest well system. Water is also pumped into Loughberry Lake from Bog Meadow Brook during the high demand summer months to help maintain the lake level. The Loughberry Lake source is treated conventionally at the Excelsior Avenue treatment plant with flocculation, settling, filtration and chlorination and is then pumped to the city. The Geyser Crest source comes from seven wells, and is chlorinated and pumped into the system. Both sources add fluoride at the rate of 1 milligram per liter. The two water systems are interconnected with the main source, Loughberry Lake, supplying most of the city and the Geyser Crest source supplying the Geyser Crest subdivision and a small portion of the southwest section of the city.
The city’s water system serves approximately 28,000 people through 8,894 service connections. The total water produced in 2005 was over 1.5 billon gallons with about 1.36 billion gallons coming from the Excelsior Avenue plant and about 183 million gallons from the Geyser Crest plant. The city’s daily average water use was 4.2 million gallons, according to figures.
The amount of water actually delivered to customers was approximately 1.25 billion gallons. This leaves about 289 million gallons unaccounted for. These losses came from flushing mains, fighting fires, occasional leakage, park and recreation use, street sweepers and illegal use, adding up to approximately 18 percent of the total amount produced.
For most of 2005, water customers were charged a sliding-scale rate, with most customers paying approximately $10.30 per 1,000 cubic feet of water consumed, or approximately $1.39 per 1,000 gallons. In October 2005, the City of Saratoga Springs restructured the water rates so that water customers were charged a sliding scale rate with most customers paying approximately $8.50 per 1,000 cubic feet of water consumed, or approximately $1.13 per 1,000 gallons.
If the city were to subscribe to the county’s water plan, residents could see a drastic increase in their water rates, as the county tries to level out water costs across the board, said Thomas McTygue.
Bronner’s plea to the council came after the city’s capital projects budget was reviewed, with the notable absence of the water project. Commissioner of Finance Matthew McCabe said the two budgets are reviewed and released to the public simultaneously.“