WORK TO BEGIN ON CITY WATER INTAKE SYSTEM

Reconstruction is about to begin on Cape Girardeau's water intake structure on the Mississippi River in the northern part of town.

Three pumps pull in river water to be treated at a water plant on Cape Rock Drive. It is a system that works pretty well until the river floods.

Water system manager Tom Taggart got his first taste of disastrous flooding in 1993, when water came over the intake building's floor and threatened to ruin motors. Following the disaster, city officials applied for an Economic Development Administration flood grant.

They won approval in October 1994. The grant was for $973,000, with the EDA supplying 75 percent of the money and the city 25 percent.

The plan was to raise the intake building's floor, keeping motors out of danger. The new building also would feature reinforcement against the Mississippi's rampaging current during floods. Constructed in 1934, the old building didn't have such reinforcement.

Construction was to begin soon after the grant was awarded, but the flood of 1995 caused delays. Robinson Construction of Perryville, the company that won the bidding process, will begin work this month.

Taggart said Cape Girardeau water customers shouldn't worry about their supply being affected by the work. Construction workers will bypass the current system with their own pumps. If the bypass fails, there are still other pumps that can be used to insure a steady water supply.

While waiting to start reconstructing the intake building, the city completed another project outlined in the grant: Workers installed a huge diesel power generator to run the water treatment plan in case of power failure.

The generator automatically senses a power failure and switches itself on. When outside power is available again, it shuts off. It had a trial run on October 17, 1996, when power to the plant was out for one and one-half hours.

Cape Girardeau voters passed a $26.5 million bond issue in November for water system improvements. The money will pay for expansion of the water-treatment plant and for 21 new wells on a Mississippi River sandbar. By mid-1999, the city will be getting its water supply from wells instead of the river.

Taggart said the intake building project still is important. There could be more floods between now and summer 1999. Also, the city needs a backup system once the wells are operational.

"It's like having a spare tire," Taggart said. "Even though you have four tires on the car, you still want the fifth one in the trunk."

Also, the grant was approved and the project bid before city officials realized the need for a bond issue.

The new intake structure and pumps should be operating by June.