NORWICH – A City of Norwich water treatment plant has been idle for almost three years after aluminum was detected by state officials. City officials offered no time frame on when the plant might be updated.

Following a violation in 2020, the City of Norwich Water Commission has been in the process of modifying a permit that would allow the operation of its new water filter plant built in 2018 and first proposed in 2007.

According to the commission’s meeting minutes, in October 2020, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) issued the city a violation for discharging aluminum in the filter backwash to Ransford Creek in greater concentration than what is permitted.

In December 2020, the city discovered the aluminum was at a low level coming to the plant in the raw water but was being concentrated on the outside of the filters. Following this discovery, the city tried various methods to reduce the aluminum concentration, and in February 2021, officials said they were not successful at reducing it below the limit set by the NYSDEC.

In October 2021, Department of Public Works Superintendent Edward Pepe said in a city water commission meeting that the NYSDEC in Albany verbally agreed to modify the aluminum permit. Almost two years later, as of July 25, Pepe told The Evening Sun he has not received any updates about modifying the permit from the NYSDEC since April when they inspected the filter plant.

Until the city is able to modify its permit with the NYSDEC, the new plant cannot operate, Pepe said. He said the modification is a long process with the NYSDEC.

According to meeting minutes, the new filter plant, which cost the city almost $6 million as of April 2019, reached “substantial completion” in October 2018.

The new plant is located at the end of Thompson Road in the City of Norwich, Pepe said. It operated in the past, he said, but when it was running, it was in violation because it couldn’t meet the NYSDEC permit. Pepe did not state an exact timeframe of when the city used the plant.

According to annual water supply statements, the new filter plant was not used in 2018 and 2019, and the permit has been in the process of modification since late 2020.

In December 2012, the Common Council approved moving forward with the “Water Filtration Project,” which member Thomas LoPiccolo introduced as being established to replace the existing 119-year-old drinking water filtration facilities on Rexford Street. Concepts for designing the project were presented to the commission starting in 2007.

Pepe also said the plant was created to treat surface water from the reservoirs for drinking water. According to the 2022 Annual Drinking Water Quality Report, surface water consists of the upper and lower reservoirs that are fed by the Ransford Creek drainage area and Chenango Lake.

The City of Norwich supplied water to around 2,800 residents in 2022, around 30% of its total population. The system also supplied water to the Town of Norwich.

While the new plant is not currently operating, Pepe said the city could use it in the event of an emergency.

“It requires a permit to operate, so it's not operating right now,” he said. “We could use it if we had to in a pinch or emergency, but we're not going to do that.”

CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this article attributed the water filter plant to being shut down by the DEC; the DEC issued the violation, while the city stopped operation of the plant.