[vc_row full_width=”” parallax=”” parallax_image=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]The Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership will produce the most seismically resilient water system in Oregon according to its project director, Dennis Koellermeier. The new system will serve over 100,000 residents of the two communities and is projected to do so until the year 2045. It is an expansion of the existing infrastructure in Lake Oswego and as such is less expensive for both cities than if they built separate systems.
Although Lake Oswego has used the Clackamas River as its water source for the past 45 years, Tigard has heretofore gotten its water from Portland. During the planning phase of development, four different water sources were considered: the Willamette River, Portland, Clackamas River, and the Joint Water Commission (Hillsboro, Forest Grove, Beaverton and Tualatin).
The physical work on the system began in 2013 and is scheduled to be completed in 2017. It includes 11 miles of pipeline from the Clackamas River in Gladstone which carry water to the treatment facility in West Linn, then on to the Waluga Reservoir in Lake Oswego and the Bonita Pumping Station in Tigard. The new system will cost $253 million and have a 38 million gallon/day capacity. (Tigard used 12 million gallons per day during the summer of 2015.) It comprises 11 different construction projects that were each competitively bid. The system is being funded by increased water rates in both communities.
The new system will use ozone instead of chlorine to treat the water. Ozone disinfected water tastes and smells better.
Dennis Koellermeier was previously the Public Works Director for the City of Tigard, a position he held for nine years.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]