Seventy million gallons of water a day will soon surge beneath Draper and Sandy via a new state-of-the art pipeline.
The underground aqueduct will snake its way through 12 miles of the south valley, connecting Sandy's Little Cottonwood water treatment plant with a soon-to-be-built facility in Draper.
The $250 million project by the Metro Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy has already started creeping its way into town through Dimple Dell Park.
Excavation for the 5-foot diameter pipe will continue through 2006, ripping down the Draper Canal, Highland Drive, Wasatch Boulevard and Newcastle Drive.
"It's really quite the undertaking," said Mike Wilson, assistant general manager of the district. "It's really a long-term perspective."
Population growth — and the water demand it brings — have strained the Metro District's resources, Wilson said. Although the company fills the valley's needs, it uses up a lot of reservoir water during the dry summer months to serve its 500,000 customers.
The new pipeline and treatment plant will allow the district to garner more water from Little Cottonwood Canyon during run-off season, preserving reservoir water at the Deer Creek and Jordanelle Reservoirs.
The new system will also connect the district's four treatment plants — the Little Cottonwood, Jordan Valley, Point of the Mountain and Southeast Regional plants — and provide a backup aqueduct in case seismic activity fractures the existing Salt Lake pipeline. The Little Cottonwood plant will be expanded during the project to increase its capacity from 113 million gallons per day to 150 million.
"We won't be able to treat every drop of water, but we're increasing our ability," Wilson said.
Wilson added that the new Point of the Mountain Treatment Plant will have the latest water treatment technology in the state-of-the-art facility. It's also the largest project the district has tackled since 1960 when the Little Cottonwood plant was built.
Ultraviolet rays and ozone will be used instead of chemicals to eradicate bacteria and taste from water, he said. The new site under construction near 15050 South and 260 West in Draper will be the final cog in Metro's interconnected system of plants and pipelines.
"There isn't anything in Utah that has this kind of technology," he said.
But getting the new pipeline in place is going to disrupt city streets and parks as it plows its way through Draper and Sandy for the next 32 months. About 25 landowners along the Highland Drive corridor and several along the Draper Canal will be affected, although no homes have been seized for the project.
The first segment of pipe is being laid in Dimple Dell Park, which means crews are slicing a 10-foot trench through the middle of the regional park.
Even after the work is done, Wilson said, the district will monitor revegetation in the park for three years. The company is also combining the burial of a new Utah Power line in the park with the pipeline dig to reduce trauma on plant life.
"If the park's going to be disrupted, it should only be disrupted once," he said. "Hopefully, 10 years from now you won't even know it was disturbed."
Several streets will also be torn up during the pipeline project, including segments of Wasatch Boulevard and Highland Drive. But Robyn Clayton, spokeswoman for the Metro Water District, said the company will not completely close any roadways.
The group also conducted several open houses this summer and sent out fliers to residents to notify them of the impending upheaval.
"I think people just want to be more informed of when it's going to be in their area," she said. "I think people have concerns about the bus routes and bus stops."
Clayton added that the company has tried to mitigate impacts of the dig by running through the Draper Canal, which will be turned into a trail system following the pipeline placement. The company has also aligned the pipeline with the future Bangerter Parkway extension in Draper and the future Highland Drive corridor.
The district is giving Draper more than 300,000 cubic yards of infill dirt to complete the Bangerter project once the pipeline work is finished.
Although the pipeline excavation may temporarily cut utility service to some Sandy and Draper residents, Carter said those households will be notified in advance of the outage. School leaders were also notified that the pipeline will be snaking its way in front of Quail Hollow Elementary School and Albion Middle School this summer, Carter said.
"We don't want any more impacts to the parents or the students than necessary," she said. "People were concerned about the noise and lights and heavy equipment."
E-mail: Estewart@desnews.com