McCook Water is Safe, City Working on Improvements

McCook, Neb. - Pat Fawver, the city's Utilities Director, wants everyone to know that McCook's drinking water is safe. He explained that the water is regularly tested and meets all health standards, especially for harmful things like arsenic, nitrates, and uranium.

Fawver noted that some people worry about "Total Dissolved Solids" (TDS) based on meters they buy online. He clarified that these small meters aren't for testing drinking water and can give wrong information. The city's water is naturally hard and has some salt from the cleaning process, which can make these meters show higher numbers. Real water tests are done by special labs and take a long time.

While McCook's water is safe, it does have manganese. This makes the water sometimes look, smell, or taste a little off, but it's not harmful. Fixing this and other things will cost a lot of money. The water plant, built in 2006, needs major updates, estimated at $22.1 million. This includes:

* Removing Manganese: A new part of the plant for this will cost about $6 million.

* Upgrading Filters: Changing the special filtering materials in the plant's 12 tanks will cost around $6 million.

* New Water Sources: Looking for new wells to find water with less manganese.

* More Capacity: Adding more treatment tanks (about $3.1 million) so the plant can be worked on year-round without stopping water supply.

* Fixing Equipment: Replacing important machines and valves, including a $700,000 chlorine generator and rebuilding a $500,000 underground waste disposal well (and possibly adding another for $3 million).

Fawver said that because of these necessary upgrades, water rates will go up little by little. He wants to make it clear that the water and wastewater departments are paid for by water bills, not city taxes. He explained that by increasing rates steadily, they can avoid a sudden, large increase that would be hard on residents.

Fawver also urged residents to call the city directly if they have water problems, instead of posting on social media. He mentioned that the city is flushing fire hydrants more often to help with discolored water and can assist with issues like leaks that affect bills. He emphasized the city's openness and invited people to visit the water plant to see how it works.