| Vol. 2 No. 12 | page 9 | March 26, 1943 |
The water system of the Black Hills Ordnance depot has now been completely activated. The water lines have been chlorinated, and the water is now potable. It is true that there are certain mineral properties, which have a cathartic effect when it is first used. But the body quickly becomes immune to these effects and no further discomfort is experienced.
Water from all parts of the Area is submitted regularly to the laboratories of the Medical Corps of the seventh service command, Omaha, for analysis as to its bacteriological content. The current report show an absolute lack of harmful bacteria of any description, after tests covering 48 hours. The repot also shows that the water remained perfectly clear for this period, there being no sediment.
A possible reason for the absence of harmful bacteria is the extreme temperature at which the water comes from the earth 138 degrees Fahrenheit, which would effectively dispose of harmful bacteria.
The Edgemont Tribune; Aug. 11, 1943; The Deep Well
The Edgemont Tribune; Jan. 17, 1945; The Black Hills Ordnance Depot is unique in its source of water supply in that the water is obtained from two deep wells approximately 4,000 feet deep, located north of the housing area. The water from these wells has characteristics which are extremely unusual. First, it is hot water coming out of the ground at a temperature of approximately 140 degrees fahrenheit. Its hardness is in the neighborhood of 700 p.p.m. which makes it unfit for domestic use unless it is treated and softened so that soap will lather in it. In order to accomplish this the Government has built a rather modern complete, up-to-date water treatment and softening plant located northwest of the housing area. This water plant has the capacity of approximately 864,000 gallons per 24 hours running at its maximum capacity. The first operation in the treating of the water constitutes running it through a Zeolite softener. This softener has certain chemicals which the water passes through and the passage of the water through these chemicals removes the hardness or the calcium and magnesium salts from the water. However, during use these Zeolite softeners become depleted of their property of picking up chemicals so it is necessary to regenerate them. These are regenerated by the use of common table salt. The process consists of running a heavy salt water through the chemicals or the material inside of the Zeolite plant which regenerates them and renders them fit for picking up of calcium and magnesium salts out of the water again. This salt and salt water never comes in contact with the water used for domestic consumption, it being used to regenerate and then dumped into the sewer and is entirely wasted. This is the father of the thought that the salt is used in the drinking water here, however, this is definitely not the case. After the water has been softened it is a dead soft water with absolutely no chemicals in it, as such, it is not fit for consumption either, the same as the hard water so it is cooled through the evaporative coolers and then mixed 80% soft with 20% of the water as it comes from the well, which gives a water of an approximate hardness of 100 p.p.m. This water will dissolve soap whereas the original water will not. This water then in turn is pumped into a cold water storage tank and from there is pumped into the elevated storage tank and the storage tanks throughout the area. There is available on this area a total of 1,300,000 gallons storage. The pressure to all of the points of usage on this depot is entirely by gravity. All pumps are used only for pumping the water to the overhead storage tanks.
| Vol. 1 No. 24 | page 2 | June 20, 1952 |
Aaron Hoar has been in charge of the Water Plant here since 1947. The water on the depot is furnished from two deep well pumps and comes out of the ground at approximately 145 degrees. In order to make this water safe and useable for drinking, washing and to give you a plentiful supply, the boys at the Water Plant have a twenty-four hour a day job watching, checking, repairing and treating the equipment at the plant.
You might be interested to know that they use more than one carload of salt a month in keeping the water soft. In addition to this they have to keep all the water service lines in good operation. Which means they constantly check for leaks and keep sufficient water in the 100,000 gallon storage tank to take care of any exceptionally heavy drain of water caused by sprinkling lawns, gardens and so forth.
| Vol. 83 No. 40 | page 2 | Oct. 5, 2005 |
A thoughtful reader has provided the Tribune with some corrections regarding the dates given to the news release about Provo Township receiving water development funds which was printed last week.
The Black Hills Ordnance Depot was established in 1942. Water was brought in by trains and trucks and sold at 10 cents per gallon. It was soon very evident that more water was needed for the workers and their families.
Drilling on Well No. 1 was completed 6-17-42 at a total depth of 4000 feet. Well No. 2 was completed for production 12-10-43 at a total depth of 3855 feet and the temperature of the water was 136 degrees F.
For several years, this water was supplied by different owners or manages including:
1942-1968 Black Hills Ordnance Depot
1968-1969 City of Edgemont
1969-1971 Black Hills Industrial Freeport
1971-1974 Black Hills Beef Palace
1975-1976 Cheyenne Feeders
1976-1988 Igloo Water Company
1988-1989 Igloo-Provo Water Group
1989-1993 Igloo Provo Water Project District
1993 Plains Valley Corporation
11-93 to present Provo Township.
(under construction)
tested in Internet Explorer 8
tested in Mozilla Firefox 3.5.7
tested in Google Chrome