“There are risks and cost to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.” This John F. Kennedy quote is one that Rodney Kappes knows well. Kappes, the General Manager at BDM Rural Water Systems, has kept this piece of JFK wisdom in mind as the utility company moved forth on a huge new project: a new water treatment plant. The new plant was the site of an official groundbreaking last week.
Britton-based BDM delivers treated water from the Middle-James Aquifer to thousands of customers and many bulk water users in Marshall, Day, Brown and Roberts County. Their newest undertaking will aid and expand that mission.
The new water treatment plant is ambitious in its scope and purpose. It will be located northeast of Britton and Kappes explains that it is a “sister” to their existing treatment plant, which is located only a mile and a half from the new one. The new plant will make use of the same aquifer.
To facilitate the plant, Kappes says they dug five new wells. “From our testing, it looks like the new wells are equal to or better than the wells at the existing plant.” The manager adds that they will be able to tie into existing lines and have the ability to send water back to the existing plant.
Though Kappes acknowledges that they will not be able to exactly double what they pull out of the aquifer due to the stipulations of their water permit, the new plant will be a big producer. “It will double our ability to produce water,” emphasized Kappes. “This includes pumping, treating and delivering water.”
Not only is the additional capacity exciting for BDM, but the new plant will provide something very important that they have been lacking until now: redundancy. “Right now, we don’t have redundancy in the system,” stressed Kappes. “If something took out our water plant, similar to what happened in Spencer, SD with that big tornado, it would take time to bring things back online. This second plant we have under construction will help minimize that risk.” The groundbreaking ceremony last Friday stoked excitement for the big project.
Several BDM officials from the past and present spoke as well as some notable dignitaries. Representatives from both State Representative Dusty Johnson and Senator Mike Rounds’ offices were present and commended the water provider on the project on behalf of the politicians.
Dale Kurth, who was the very first Chairman on the BDM board, was there and stated he is quite proud of the board members for pushing this BDM water line all the way to Minnesota.
Brian Bergantine, the primary engineer for the project, boasted that “BDM is laying the groundwork for the future. This new treatment plant will have an advanced technology for chemical dosage and monitoring backwash and will also be able to keep the supply at a steady rate.”
Board Chairman Torre Raap, who also spoke at the event, discussed the backstory of the treatment plant. When he and Kappes were traveling together, Raap asked the BDM manager what would happen if a tornado took out their current treatment plant. “Rod replied we’d be in BIG trouble,” said Raap. “That’s when we decided a backup treatment plant was needed and started to get the ball rolling with funding efforts.”
The new plant will cost around $15 million to complete. Of that, Kappes explains that grants will fund $5.268 million. BDM has sought $8 million in loans, $500,000 of which will be forgiven. Besides the grant and loan funds, Kappes adds that BDM will apply internal funding to the project as money has been set aside for such capital improvements.
“This is our most significant capital infrastructure project since we built the existing plant,” noted Kappes. “And considering our normal growth projections, we predict this will cover our needs for the next 20 to 25 years.”
As he looks down the road to that time, Kappes says something big is on the horizon. The WINS Project (Water Investment in Northern South Dakota) is a collaborative effort initiated by BDM, WEB Water and the city of Aberdeen. The project will build a double parallel water line from the Missouri River to Aberdeen, and eventually from the Aberdeen line to BDM lines. The project plays a crucial role in addressing the needs of a growing population and supporting agricultural and industrial services in the region. “We hope that the WINS project will be bringing us water in 25 years,” confirmed Kappes.
While the fruits of that labor are years away, the new BDM water plant promises to be up and running much sooner. Kappes says the project is currently ahead of schedule though some supply chain issues may hold them up a bit. “We may have been ready next fall, but we’re hearing some electric panels might not be ready until then,” he said. “So now we’re predicting late 2025 or 2026 when we will be online.”
When that day comes, local water customers will never have to worry about hazardous chemicals or being without water.
As Jeremiah Corbin, Executive Director of the SD Association of Rural Water Systems, stated at the groundbreaking last week, “With this new water treatment plant, we will have top notch water service at an affordable rate. Let us celebrate this as a brighter future for our communities.”
