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The City Council on Monday, March 10, approved an Orange County Water District construction loan agreement for the Lampson Well Treatment System.
The money will be used to address the stench that sometimes comes from the city’s water well on Lampson.
“The estimated loan amount is $4,450,000, which will be confirmed upon publicly bidding the Project,” according to the staff report by Public Works Director Iris Lee.
The vote was unanimous.
This was originally a Consent Calendar item, but this item was pulled for further discussion at the request of District Three Councilwoman/Mayor Lisa Landau.
Background
“The City owns and maintains four (4) water production wells – (1) Lampson Well, (2) Beverly Manor Well, (3) Leisure World Well, and (4) Bolsa Chica Well. The Lampson Well is located at the easterly end of the Old Ranch Country Club on Lampson Avenue,” Lee wrote.
Unfortunately, as Lee pointed out in her report, sometimes the water from the Lampson well smells bad. (This problem dates back years in Seal Beach.)
“When Lampson Well runs for long periods of time or at higher flow rates, there is an increase in hydrogen sulfide (H2S) concentrations. While H2S is identified under the National Secondary Drinking Water Regulations for aesthetic effects and is not a health and safety concern, the nuisance odor from H2S is distinct. As such, the Lampson Well Treatment System (Project) was introduced to permanently treat this nuisance odor and ultimately increase well production capacity and operational flexibility,” Lee wrote.
The Orange County Water District manages the Orange County Groundwater Basin, according to Lee. Seal Beach Draws water from the basin, according to Lee. The District has a Producers Well Construction Loan Program.
According to Lee’s report, the loan would be for 20 years for a one-time improvement project, with annual repayments beginning one year of the project’s “substantial completion date”.
According to Lee, the project would decrease overall costs for groundwater production compared with the cost of importing water.
The city has applied for the loan and the program has approved the loan.
