ARLINGTON City leaders turned on the tap at a new water filtration plant owned by Marysville that promises plenty of clean water for the north end of town.
The $6.35 million plant takes water harvested from a well under the Stillaguamish River and filters it through a new state-of-the-art membrane technology at a rate of 3.2 million gallons per day. That added capacity should help Marysville provide water to the many customers within and without city boundaries.
The new technology is built to last, according to Mayor Dennis Kendall, who said the plant should last for up to 50 years. As for the new technology contained in the huge blue tanks next to him, Kendall told an audience of engineers and city council members that it showed Marysville wasnt afraid to try new things.
This is a great partnership, Kendall said. We are on the cusp of some fairly new technology. We are not afraid to make these commitments.
Its a great day for us because it represents a step for us into some very new technology, said Paul Roberts, director of he Marysville Public Works Department.
He thanked the city of Arlington for its help in permitting the plant in a residential neighborhood next to the Arlington airport. The city took great pains to preserve the many mature evergreen trees around the site.
The city is also getting ready to start filling up a new water tank just south of Sisco Heights. The North 240 reservoir can be seen from 67th Avenue NE, on the hillside just east of the Strawberry Fields soccer park. Workers last weekend were spraying 120 gallons of baby blue paint on the 3 million gallon tank, which cost $1.9 million. An additional million was spent on a waterline serving the tank, which serves the north end of Marysville, down to about 108th Avenue NE.
As soon as the paint cures, well fill it up, said Kevin Nielsen, assistant public works director for Marysville.
The filtration plant is the latest addition to the water utilitys portfolio, following the completion of the Edward Springs Reservoir earlier this year.
The Stilly filtration plant is a new cinderblock structure constructed around the larger treatment plant equipment, which was installed first. The spotless plant is filled with colorful pipes for air, water and chemicals, and is filled with computer monitoring and testing equipment. Engineers can monitor the plant remotely if needed.