STILLWATER, Okla. — The City of Stillwater announced it's improving part of its namesake by beginning an overhaul of its water infrastructure, a plan years in the making.
Stillwater Regional Water currently serves 79,000 people within five counties, including thousands who live around Oklahoma State University.
This is while its water pump stations and equipment are outdated by several decades, the water authority said.
"This is the biggest project that we’ve done at the water treatment plant in over 40 years,” City of Stillwater Water Engineering Manager David Barth said.
The city received federal grants paired with a low-interest loan from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board, totaling $39 million.
Barth told 2 News while there’s nothing wrong with current water quality, the money will fund two core projects to bring its treatment systems into the future.
"(This will be to) build a new pump station, to build new chemical facilities at our water treatment plant...and then we’re gonna continue looking at, ‘okay, how do we look at a place to store raw water and a backup supply for our system?’ Because we only have one pipeline that brings water from Kaw Lake to the City of Stillwater,” Barth said.
One area needing extra water flow is the town of Yost. One rural water advisory board member explained in a Dec. 18 Stillwater City Council meeting how the community’s growth is stunted by the issue.
"We have people that are ready to build out there, ready to put more (water) meters in, but we’re limited. So if we’re limited on meters then you’re limited on income out there.”
Instead of taxes, Stillwater customers - including off-campus OSU students and faculty - will help pay back the loan with slightly hire water rates in the years to come, Barth said.
"Our ultimate responsibility is to provide safe drinking water to all of our customers. And to be able to do that we need to maintain our system,” he added.
The city said the finish pump station construction will start within the next few weeks at its main treatment plant, while construction for the chemicals improvement project expects to begin this fall. Both main projects are expected to be finished by Crossland Construction in 2026.
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