Wichita water plant contractors address project delays

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) — Contractors working on Wichita’s new water treatment plant addressed the city council Tuesday, providing the first comprehensive update to the community on project delays and repair timelines.

Wichita Water Partners representatives appeared before the council to reiterate their commitment to completing a water treatment plant the city is satisfied with.

“There’s no benefit for us to have a project that you’re not happy with, and that is not successful,” said Ron Coker, Burns and McDonnell senior vice president.

Company emphasizes long-term relationship

Coker explained his company has been working with the city for more than 100 years. He said the company notified the city shortly after the first delay related to the clarifiers and committed to covering additional costs.

“We notified the city shortly after we had the first delay related to the clarifiers saying, ‘don’t worry we’ll pay for the chemicals and the power as part of that, and then we’ve escalated that as we’ve gone forward,’” Coker said.

Mayor raises concerns but expresses satisfaction

Wichita Mayor Lily Wu raised concerns at the meeting but said she was satisfied to hear from Wichita Water Partners.

“It’s been a long-overdue presentation that I think the community deserved to hear,” Wu said.

The mayor said she was pleased with the new communication process.

“I’m glad that there’s now a process in place that they will be coming every month to provide an update on the water treatment plant until the city takes ownership of this water treatment plant,” Wu said.

Updated timeline for clarifier repairs

Wichita Water Partners provided an updated timeline for repairs on the broken clarifiers. Coker said the company believes it can complete repairs faster than previously projected.

“We actually believe we can do this much faster than that,” Coker said, referring to earlier projections that repairs could take through the end of the year.

The company plans to restart testing as early as May.

“We’ll start PTA testing again as soon as the first two are repaired, so as early as May,” Coker said.

However, a projected opening date for the plant remains undetermined.

City council approves amended contract

The city council approved an amended contract with its site representative worth over $750,000 due to the delayed timeline. Wichita Water Partners says it is committed to covering all additional costs associated with the plant’s delay.

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