OTTUMWA —
Money that John Deere Ottumwa Works is saving in sewer separation will be fueled into new lasers and new jobs.
“We found there were some different ways to do it, different solutions,” said Andy Hansen, John Deere plant manager. “The best was to install a new storm system for the site.”
The existing system, which is currently a combined sanitary-sewer system, will be used solely for sanitary in the future.
Instead of having to construct a new lift station, the Finley Box Pump Station will act as one in order to transfer storm water to the Des Moines River.
“We had to figure out how to get the storm water runoff into the river, since our site sits lower than the river,” Hansen said.
The other component is Black Lake, which sits on the northeast side of U.S. Highway 34 by John Deere, the use of which was handed to John Deere from Ottumwa Water Works and Hydro by the city of Ottumwa at the City Council’s June 19 meeting.
“We can’t build a lift that will pump at the rate rain would fall and get it into the river,” Hansen said.
So the lake will capture rainfall and gradually pump it into the river and send it downstream.
“This way we don’t have to build a lake on our property,” Hansen said.
The Finley Box Pump Station, which sits at the south end of the property, will take storm water runoff and pump it to Black Lake, which will then go to the river.
Water Works has previously used the lake as the city’s third source of water, after the Des Moines River and the Ottumwa Reservoir.
Mike Heffernan, general manager of Water Works, said the lake will not officially be transferred over until John Deere completes its work.
“At that point, we’ll pump the lake down so they can finish their work, pull our pump out, and then at that point it will be turned over to the city,” Heffernan said.
He said Water Works has not needed the lake and he doesn’t anticipate needing it.
“The only time we would use it is if ... the river and our alternate water source were bad or gone, which with these drought conditions, I guess you can’t totally discount that,” Heffernan said.
In an emergency, he said the Ottumwa lagoons are actually another source of water, “but those bodies of water are probably in worse shape than Black Lake,” so Water Works would still issue a boil advisory.
“By being able to use the lake and the Finley pump station, it saves us $4 million,” Hansen said.
And that money isn’t just going back in John Deere’s pockets.
Hansen said it will be used to bring three new fiber-optic lasers into the factory, which will add more jobs to the community.
The fiber-optic lasers will replace older lasers John Deere currently uses, which are so old they can’t be repaired, Hansen said, as they use mirrors, while the new lasers use fiber optic cables.
“By bringing these lasers in, we can in-source work we have currently at suppliers, we can bring back work we had relocated and we can do work for other John Deere locations,” Hansen said. “Right now we’re recruiting a laser technician. I would like an Indian Hills grad, but I’m looking for maybe one who is mid-career who would like to move back here after several years of experience.”
John Deere was required to comply with the EPA regulations, just as the city of Ottumwa is, and Hansen said he doesn’t want the company to be the “laggard” when it comes to completing sewer separation on time, according to the timeline.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Hansen said, since historically, houses on the south side of the river have had to deal with backups and flooded basements.
Even with the $4 million saved, though, the sewer separation project will reach into the millions, probably around $7 million.
Bids will be sent out in November, Hansen said, and at that point, he’ll know better the timeline of the project, though he said the project in its entirety could take a couple of years, as they will have to dig a lot of trenches in the property to install the new system.
“We have to do all that and not interrupt production,” Hansen said.
John Deere has been working with the city and an engineering consultant to do detailed specifications and project planning, Hansen said.
“The more uncertainty there is in the bid package, the higher the bids that come in,” Hansen said, so they’re working to make it as solid as possible.
Ottumwa
Use of Black Lake will save John Deere $4 million, add jobs
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