New S. Glens Falls water filtration to start in fall

The two 12-foot-wide, 24-foot-tall GAC tanks which have been installed at the South Glens Falls water treatment facility.

SOUTH GLENS FALLS – While work on the village's new granular activated carbon filtration system looks to be completed on schedule, officials are holding off on switching it on.

"At this pace we are gonna hit the milestone right at the point of highest usage," explained Department of Public Works Superintendent T. J. Chagnon, during a village meeting earlier this spring. "I would strongly suggest, if we can, we wait until fall."

Chagnon reasoned that the start-up of the new system would inevitably come with minor issues that would need to be worked out, such as PH balance levels, flushing out the system and rest time for the carbon to settle in the tanks. Bringing it online when the system is already operating at capacity would only put undo stress on the system, as well as the department's crew.

"We know we’re gonna have learning curves," he said. "We know we’re gonna come up against issues and if we do it at the height of when we need every drop going out into distribution, we’re gonna set ourselves up for failure."

Because the project is largely funded by the state, certain completion milestones must be met to comply with funding standards. Trustee Harry Gutheil asked if waiting to get the granular activated carbon in the tanks would affect those milestones, and whether waiting so long to activate the tanks would hurt the village's ability to hold the contractor accountable if something were to not function properly.

"We would do an initial start-up of the system with no GAC in the tanks," Chagnon explained. "So, make sure everything works. Pumps work, tanks work, nothing's leaking. All that stuff we would absolutely do while the contractor's still on site."

As part of the on-going mission to provide the cleanest drinking water possible to residents, village officials are in the process of adding GAC to the municipal water filtration system.

The board acquiesced to Chagnon's request for a later startup date, on the condition that it wouldn't affect funding. After checking with all parties involved, Chagnon reported back to the board at its May 3 meeting that the later date would not hurt funding.

"Because we’re paying out of pocket for the carbon, it's not gonna to affect any funding, it's not gonna to affect any close out date for the contractors," he said.

However, Chagnon did say that the contractor's warranty would go into effect on the date of the project's completion, so there would be some time lost between then and the start-up of the system.

"But to lose two months of a warranty and know that we’re going to be successful versus potentially fail, I think two months of a warrantee is a small price to pay," he asserted.

The board agreed and the decision was made that the new filtration system would begin in November.

South Glens Falls Highway and Maintenace supervisor T.J. Chagnon explains how the village's new GAC filtration system will be monitored.

Alex Portal is a staff writer who covers Moreau, South Glens Falls, and northern Saratoga County. He can be reached by calling or texting (838) 722-0945 or emailing [email protected].

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