AUBURN — Work on a project designed to move the city’s water treatment work out of the downtown and closer to Lake Auburn should wrap up by December.

Crews are building a new chloramine treatment facility on Turner Street just south of the entrance to Central Maine Community College. 

When it’s finished, water will flow from the ultraviolet and chlorine treatment facility just north of the college to the new facility, where ammonia will be added to the chlorinated water.

“That will be ready to be pumped directly to our customers,” said John Storer, superintendent of the Auburn Water District. “It will be a more direct connection to those north of the downtown and in the mall area.”

The project is jointly funded by the Auburn Water District and the Lewiston Water Department. Storer said Auburn should start using the new facility late this year. 

Currently, Lake Auburn water comes ashore north of the college, at the end of Pumping Station Road. The water utilities set up the UV treatment facility there last year. The UV system is scheduled to come online this fall.

Water is treated with chlorine there, and then pumped to two treatment facilities. Lewiston’s water is treated with ammonia at a station along Main Street before being sent along to customers.

Auburn’s water is treated with ammonia at the Court Street station before being pumped to the rest of the city.

Lewiston Water Superintendent Kevin Gagne said the city would continue to use the Main Street facility for the foreseeable future.

“But this gives us the option of moving to Turner Street at some point,” Gagne said. “That’s why we partnered with Auburn on the project.”

The work is costing about $1 million, split between the two cities and the state’s Revolving Loan Fund.

“Auburn is paying a little bit more because we have to modify some piping,” Storer said.

The treatment facility is located on a southeastern corner of Central Maine Community College’s property. The college gave the water district an easement, free of charge, to allow the work.

Storer said the water utilities needed that distance between the chlorine treatment building and the new ammonia treatment building to make the chemistry work.

“The chlorine needs a certain amount of time once it’s been treated before you can add the ammonia,” he said. “We could have built a holding tank to store the chlorine-treated water, but we decided to use the pipes in the current system instead.”

Storer said water district crews are building new connections at strategic points throughout the city that will allow the water to be pumped directly from the Turner Street building to North Auburn customers.

staylor@sunjournal.com