Elmwood Township Exploring Options for Timberlee’s Water System

Elmwood Township is on the hunt for a new water system for the Timberlee neighborhood.

While the existing hydropneumatic system has been repaired following a pressure loss that triggered a boil advisory for Timberlee residents earlier this month, Elmwood commissioners have been looking to overhaul the system since before the incident.

In July, only a few weeks before the boil advisory, township commissioners were meeting with engineer Ken Schwerdt to explore their options for upgrading the existing system to meet usage demand. An upgrade would also help Timberlee’s system to meet the pressure rating requirements of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

Their options include replacing the underperforming tank with one large “proper pressure-rated tank” for an estimated $750,000 or installing two smaller tanks for $600,000. Schwerdt also presented the township with a third option of replacing the current tank with two salvaged tanks for a total of $400,000, which the township voted unanimously to explore as their first option.

The salvaged tanks have been in use by Garfield Township’s water system but are in the process of being decommissioned. In an email to Township Supervisor Jeff Shaw, Schwerdt said that while the Garfield tanks “are believed to be in excellent condition,” they’ll need to be inspected at a cost of $2,500 per tank “by a certified tank inspection company prior to moving forward with any purchase.

In the email, Schwerdt also said a timeline for installing the salvaged tanks in Timberlee isn’t known since “some equipment may not be available for immediate removal based on Garfield’s anticipated decommissioning schedule.”

If used, the salvaged tanks “would be suitable for the Timberlee system” says Schwerdt.

EGLE says it wants the township to bypass a hydropneumatic system altogether and instead opt for a gravity storage system as their replacement, which would be less reliant on the upkeep of mechanical components. It would also be significantly more expensive than the salvaged Garfield tanks.

Schwerdt says that after talking numbers with EGLE, they’ll consider the salvaged tanks as an appropriate option. Ultimately, “While not the preferred solution,” Schwerdt says, “replacing the old tank with a newer, properly rated tank is considered an overall improvement to the system.”

In their most recent meeting on August 14, Elmwood Township was once again discussing the aging water system and reviewed Timberlee's 48-hour boil water advisory issued by the Grand Traverse Department of Public Works (DPW) on August 2nd. The advisory warned residents in the Timberlee neighborhood to only use bottled or boiled water due to concerns about water contamination. During the advisory period, DPW says it made repairs to the system while water staff took “other remedial actions such as flushing and collecting bacteriological samples from around the system” to make sure that the water met state drinking water standards.

“Whenever a water system loses pressure for any significant length of time, precautionary measures are recommended,” says the DPW in their press release about the boil advisory.

The release goes on to explain that the boil advisory was a precautionary measure triggered by a loss of water pressure. The pressure loss was caused by an equipment failure in Timberlee's well house which occurred on August 1st, leading to the boil advisory being issued the next day.

Residents in the Timberlee neighborhood reported brown-tinted water during the boil advisory which can be a sign of bacterial contamination. While the exact cause of the discoloration isn't explicitly stated, it can also result from phenomena like "water hammer," caused by rapid changes in water flow and pressure which can dislodge sediments and other particles that have settled in water system pipes, leading to water discoloration.

Timberlee's existing hydropneumatic technology can make it susceptible to such pressure-related malfunctions.

The discolored water isn't the first time Timberlee residents have raised issues about their aging water system. In March, they crowded Elmwood Township Planning Commission meetings to express their concerns over Wellivity, a wellness resort proposed for construction in the Timberlee neighborhood.

The resort plans feature amenities–including a restaurant, spa, and hotel–that some worry would put further strain on the current water system, which neighbors say has long shown signs of overuse. Wellevity says that if the project is approved, their impact on the Timberlee water system will be low because they intend to mitigate their business’s water consumption and diversify their water resources by pumping groundwater and installing an independent wastewater treatment system.