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SECTION H. PUBLIC WATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS
INTRODUCTION
The infrastructure of the community is the backbone of the
county. Without the proper and
up-to-date infrastructure, the quality of life in the county is reduced. In order to reduce the migration to other
places the county needs to determine the quality of the services, facilities,
and systems throughout the county and its communities; and bring them
up-to-date to the best of their ability.
WATER AND SEWER SYSTEMS
The quality and quantity of water provided in a community
greatly affects living conditions and potential growth. An adequate supply of quality water is
needed for domestic use, industrial purposes, and fire protection. This need for water is provided to the
residents of Lee County through Rural Water and by individual city systems.
Franklin
The town of Franklin currently has no water or sewer systems. The residents rely on private wells and
Rathbun Rural Water and individual septic tanks. The community has no storm water system.
Houghton
Rathbun Rural Water provides the community of Houghton with
water. The sewer system was built in
1969 and consists of two lagoons, which are in good condition. The community has done various
improvements to their storm sewer system over the years and is now in
excellent condition.
Montrose
The town of Montrose has a water system that is about 36 years old,
which consists of 2 turbine shallow wells and an above ground storage
tank. The system is in good
condition.
The town’s sewer system is approximately 32 years old and is an
extended aeration system. The current
condition of the system is poor. The
community has no storm sewer system.
Fort Madison
The water system for Fort Madison consists of a water plant east of
the city limits. The facility has
three shallow wells, three booster stations, two million gallon ground
storage reservoirs, and one 500,000 gallon elevated storage sphere. The distribution system is cast iron or
ductile iron. The water composition
is 90 percent Mississippi River water to 7 percent well water. The City sells about 600,000 gallons a day
to Rathbun Regional Rural Water Association.
The sewer treatment plant was built in 1966 on 20th
Street. The sewer system in Fort
Madison is about 50 to 100 years old and is predominantly in fair to good
condition. The town does have some combination storm and sanitary sewers in
the east third or the older portions of the community.
St. Paul
The community of St. Paul receives their water from Rathbun Rural
Water and the condition is fine. The
City is currently putting in a new lagoon system and service lines. The previous system was individual septic
tanks. The town’s storm water system
is in poor condition and is in the process of creating a new system.
West Point
The West Point Municipal Water System is managed and operated by the
West Point Municipal Utility and performs distribution to consumers of water
purchased from the Rathbun Rural Water Association. The exact age of the system is unknown, but is probably about
75 years old. The system is generally in good condition as a number of the
distribution lines have been replaced with larger size plastic pipes in
recent years. The system services
about 450 connections.
The West Point Sanitary Sewer System is an integral part of the city
and is operated and maintained by city staff. The sanitary sewer system was originally completed in 1939 with
various improvements being made thereafter.
The latest improvement to the system was completed in 1996 and
included expansion of the system, replacement of some existing lines with
larger pipe and installation of a treatment lagoon at a combined cost of more
than one million dollars. Additional
improvements to the system were made during 2000 and 2001. Generally speaking the sewer system is in
good condition and is well maintained by the experienced city team.
The city’s storm sewer system has been installed by the city over the
years in conjunction with various curb and gutter work and the exact age is
unknown. Generally speaking, the
storm sewer system is thought to be in relatively good condition except for
the segment along Avenue E, East of the City Square Park, which was installed
years ago using culvert pipe and is now thought to be in deteriorating
condition needing replacing in the future.
The storm sewer system was extended and improved during the sanitary
sewer improvement projects in 1996.
Overall, the system operates satisfactorily, ridding the city of
excess water in an efficient manner.
Keokuk
The Keokuk Water Works is in a generally good position to provide
municipal water service to any of the development areas. The only area where extensive water system
improvements may be required would be in the eastern portion of the Price’s
Creek basin.
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