Park City waterworks crews are amid the testing of a new treatment plant and could begin using the facility to produce drinking water in November, an official said this week, a scenario that, if it holds, would mark a historic moment for the Public Utilities Department and the wider municipal government.
Construction started on the 3Kings Water Treatment Plant in Thaynes Canyon in late 2019, shortly before the pandemic struck, and crews have been progressing on what is an especially ambitious project for City Hall. The construction zone is highly visible along Three Kings Drive and just off several holes at the Park City Golf Club course.
The Public Utilities Department started 60 days of testing of the functioning of the plant in August. The 60-day period ends in late October, leading the department to anticipate the plant will begin producing water for the municipal system during the following month.
The plant will remove contaminants like arsenic, antimony, iron, manganese, zinc, thallium and lead from the drinking water. It is also designed with a system employing ultraviolet light to remove viruses and pathogens.
The Public Utilities Department has described the plant as a keystone in a list of improvements to the waterworks system to improve water quality. Park City historically drew large amounts of its drinking water from underground sources dating to the silver mining era, leading to decades of issues linked to the contaminants. The plant, projected to cost approximately $80 million and funded through water-user fees, is seen as an aggressive step capping a decade of waterworks improvements.
“I’m proud of the team for getting us to this point. It’s a major improvement to Park City water quality and treatment infrastructure,” said Clint McAffee, the public utilities director.
The 3Kings Water Treatment Plant was among the highlights of a Tuesday open house organized by City Hall and held outside the Park City Library. Information was available about a broad range of municipal projects and programs. The attendees moved from table to table learning about topics like housing, bus lines, bicycle routes and the related issues of the future of the Bonanza Park district and a City Hall-owned parcel off the intersection of Kearns Boulevard and Bonanza Drive.
Open houses like the one Tuesday are meant to provide the public with a single setting to learn about the wide-ranging municipal work plan. There were numerous City Hall staffers in attendance, answering questions about the individual projects and programs. The crowd did not appear to be fixated on any single topic and instead spent time chatting with staffers at the various tables.
The information about the 3Kings Water Treatment Plant was notable with the expected debut of the facility approaching so quickly. The plant will treat water that flows out of the Judge Tunnel, the Spiro Tunnel and Thiriot Springs, and it will have the capability to produce up to 7.2 million gallons of drinking water each day. The plant is also designed to improve the quality of the water in McLeod Creek.
The 3Kings Water Treatment Plant, meanwhile, will have the ability to distribute raw water from the Rockport Reservoir to McLeod Creek and the irrigation systems at the Park City Golf Club course and the course at the Park Meadows Country Club. That ability will assist in times of drought.
McAffee said the testing is sending water through the plant and then discharging it into a pond at the municipal golf course, close to the 14th hole. He said there have not been issues and the water quality after treatment is “exceeding expectations.”
The water treated at the plant will not be put into the drinking-water system until the Public Utilities Department receives a permit from the state Division of Drinking Water. McAffee anticipates the permit will be issued in November.
Generations of Park City leaders have attempted to address the quality of the water flowing through the municipal system with varying degrees of success.
Parkites over time, though, have increased their confidence in the municipal water system. The National Community Survey, conducted on behalf of City Hall in late 2022 and early 2023, found 75% of the respondents rated the quality of the drinking water as excellent or good. The result represented an extraordinary move in the positive direction — 32 percentage points — from the 43% result in the survey conducted in 2011.
A grand opening and open house celebrating the 3Kings Water Treatment Plant are expected to be scheduled late in the spring or in early summer.