The project, funded by state grants and loans, will improve water pressure, reduce water leakage and allow the two residential neighborhoods near Lacey to use less water from the City of Olympia, utility officials say.
About 31 percent of the water delivered into the system is lost from leaky pipes before it reaches customers, said John Weidenfeller, utility general manager.
The PUD supplies water to 1,308 customers in the two communities, relying in large part on an outdated water system constructed in the 1950s to deliver about 500,000 gallons of water per day consumed in Tanglewilde and Thompson Place.
The project includes drilling two wells in the Tanglewilde park, replacing the obsolete reservoir next to Lydia Hawk Elementary School and replacing the Stillwell Street water main, a source of many of the leaks, Weidenfeller said.
The wells will not interfere with park use, utility operations manager Kim Gubbe said.
Money from the project comes from the state Public Works Board and state Drinking Water Revolving Fund.
Four wells drilled to serve the two residential developments were abandoned in the 1990s. One well was refurbished recently, but the utility buys most of its water from Olympia. The project will not require a rate increase for customers, partly because of the money saved from halting water purchases from Olympia, Weidenfeller said.
The estimated completion date for the project is spring 2011, Gubbe said.
John Dodge: 360-754-5444
jdodge@theolympian.com
