A new, larger water tower, a new water treatment facility and other improvements equal cleaner water for citizens in this Steele County town.

Ellendale’s previous water tower, built in the 1930s, was undersized for the city, with a capacity of about 50,000 gallons, Mayor Steve Engel said. Aside from the new 150,000-gallon tower, another need was also met with the addition of a water treatment facility.

“We had the chemical additions like all cities have, but there was no filtration process,” said Steve Louks, city clerk and treasurer. “Most of the homes in town had a real high iron content, real rusty water. You’d flush the mains, and you’d get real brown water out of the mains.”

Shortly after the new tower began functioning in the spring of 2008, Louks, who is also a part of the local fire department, said the firefighters filled trucks to clean the streets, and he could see the water was cleaner than before.

“I was up on top of one of the tankers. It looked like the ocean in Jamaica, just absolutely perfectly clean,” Louks said. “You can see the bottom of the tank, and I can respect the difference because I’ve seen both sides. It just made a tremendous difference in the cleanliness of the water. The water’s always been safe to drink. It’s just a lot clearer now. Actually, it looks inviting to jump in and swim.”

Engel also said the water is now much cleaner, and his family no longer buys bottled water.

“I always have a water jug in my refrigerator,” Engel said. “Usually I have it full of water, and you see a water ring or see rust in the bottom of it after a few days or weeks. I don’t see any signs of rust at all in the water anymore.”

Had the city not replaced the tower and added the treatment facility when it did, Engel said the state Health Department likely would have required the city to do so. By 2006 some naturally occurring mineral contaminants were nearing the mandated limits. Had those levels continued to rise, action would have been required, but Engel said the city wouldn’t have been able to prepare for funding.

The radon in one of two wells was also nearing the limits to require federal action, said Jim Johnson, water treatment officer, but that well is no longer being used.

Along with the new tower and treatment facility, water meters were added to the buildings in town, and some water mains were replaced, Engel said.

Because of the water meters, Engel said water rates are now based on usage. The project was funded by rates, not taxes, and Engel said people used to pay a flat rate that was lower than towns similar in size to Ellendale. Engel said homes and businesses were getting a great deal on rates before, but now they’re comparable to similar cities.

“The shock to the local people was the water rates basically tripled,” Louks said. “But at the same time, if we look at our neighboring towns of similar size, water rates are comparable. They’re not triple to what Clarks Grove is or New Richland is. They’re comparable to what those cities are. You could look at it the other way and say they were three times too low before.”

The second phase of the project also included replacing water mains small than six inches in diameter, because, Engel said, areas of town were being served by one and half-inch mains. Engel said some homes now have improved water pressure. That project will be finished in the spring when roads affected by the project are finished.

Louks said some of the old mains would end on the edges of town and iron and other debris would collect there and affect the water in nearby homes. They changed the lines to loop back into the system so the water keeps flowing, Louks said.

Engel said the new tower should support the projected growth for 20 years.

“It’s pretty impressive actually. I’m here, and I’m paying for it, and I’m still impressed,” Louks said of the new tower and treatment facility.