Better water drops away in Geneva

Almost … almost.

Geneva residents anxious to drink a drop of water purified by the city's new $22 million treatment plant won't have to wait much longer.

The city had hoped to have the new plant online by mid-February, but levels of two chemicals used in the treatment process fluctuated unacceptably. One removes chlorine. Another keeps mineral scale from building up on the polyamide thin-film composite reverse-osmosis membranes that remove minerals from the water.

That problem has been solved and now the operators are making sure the automated operating system works correctly. So far, it seems to be.

"I still don't want to give out a date," said Bob VanGyseghem, the city's water and sewer superintendent.

"Being a new plant, you are always going to have some problems associated with start-up," VanGyseghem said. "I'd be very surprised if it is going to take more than another week."

The new plant is at Peck and Keslinger roads. It is designed to supply markedly softer water. When the new water is flowing, the city will post announcements on its Web site, notify customers in utility bills and notify the media.