Groundbreaking Thursday for Pasco's new river water intake facility

Pasco will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 2 p.m. Thursday at the site of the new Columbia Raw Water Intake Structure.

The project involves a river water intake facility and pump station at 11412 W. Court St. for the west Pasco Water Treatment Plant.

The new 30-inch pipeline and electrical duct bank between the intake and the treatment plant will allow the city to continue to provide a reliable source of potable water and meet near-term projected demands, according to a news release.

It includes two 250-horsepower pumps, each with a capacity of six million gallons a day.

City officials said a bulk of the $7.5 million project will be covered by a low-interest loan from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund.

The savings to rate payers from the 1-percent loan is expected to be more than $2.3 million over the life of the loan, the news release said.

This story was originally published March 29, 2017 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Groundbreaking Thursday for Pasco's new river water intake facility."