FAIRMONT - Questions about building a new water plant in Fairmont were addressed Monday by the consultant hired to study the issue.

Advanced Engineering has been working with Fairmont for more than a year. The firm was hired to conduct a facility study.

Operations manager Grant Meyer explained how Advanced Engineering reached a conclusion that Fairmont needs a new surface water plant.

Taken into consideration were water demand projections; the current facility's condition; existing and future drinking water regulations; a plan for the source water; treatment target goals; and treatment technology options.

To determine Fairmont's future water use, Advanced Engineering used population projections coordinated with long-term planning done at the wastewater treatment facility.

"Between now and 2015," Meyer said, pointing to a chart," you can see we'll have trouble keeping up with demand."

A panel of experts was then gathered to scrutinize the 80-year-old plant's condition. The panel concluded many of the facility's critical systems required to treat drinking water have a high probability of failure.

"Obviously, our water treatment facility needs some work," said Mayor Randy Quiring. He then went on to question how advantageous it is for Advanced Engineering to build a new facility compared to renovating an old one. He also asked how many renovations the firm does compared to building new.

"It makes no difference to us," Meyer said. "... Our best interest is if Fairmont is still happy 20 years from now, when all is said and done."

The firm recently conducted a similar facility study in St. Cloud, Meyer mentioned, and rehabilitation was the better choice there.

"We rehab far more often than we build new," he said.

Fairmont's facility study, in comparing ground water with surface water, found the latter to be the cheaper option in the long run. On a 20-year scale, Meyer said, the capital cost between the two types of facilities would be about $49.3 million for a plant treating ground water compared to $45.2 million for a plant treating surface water from Budd Lake.

The difference in the two figures would only increase with time, Meyer said. The divergence is due to maintenance and operation of treating hard water, and trading in the taste and odor of a lake's fishy algae for the underground stench of sulfur.

Councilman Joe Kallemeyn suggested opening an existing well at the plant to test the water, rather than using data from 1988.

"With groundwater, the results are unlikely to change significantly, but it certainly is dated information," Meyer said.

With the facility plan complete, and a taste and odor pilot study pointing to granulated carbon as the best treatment option, the next step is a preliminary design phase. In order to meet a project completion date of fall 2012, the council will need to decide by Dec. 14 whether to move forward.

The presentation Meyer gave Monday is available online at www.fairmont.org

In other business, the council set a hearing for 6 p.m. Dec. 14 to consider selling the lot at 401 S. Prairie Ave. An offer of $100 was made on the property, once the city carries through with plans to demolish a blighted home that sits on the lot.