Interlocal Water Services Agreement

The City of Negaunee and Powell Township have entered into an interlocal agreement to provide assistance to each other for the purpose of maintaining safe drinking water for their residents.

Language of the agreement includes a commitment of providing safe drinking water and reducing costs and waste associated with the delivery of water to their residents, businesses and visitors.

Mutual assistance may be rendered by either community by upon request.

Early this year such a request was sent to the City of Negaunee from Powell Township for assistance in detecting water leaks throughout their water system. However, it was determined that entering into an agreement would need to be tackled first.

“This is what it means to be a Yooper, when our neighbors ask for help, we help them. This is the essence of who we are, Negaunee City Manager Nate Heffron said.

Recently the City of Negaunee had been suffering large losses of water to their system. This led the city to purchase a water correlator device. This allows for the city to detect and pinpoint leaks by detecting low-frequency sounds underground.  With this equipment, the city was able to reduce their water loss by 53%, saving 160,000 gallons per day. Other leak sources are still being sought or will be repaired during the upcoming USDA Water Project in 2022.

Leaks are found in most systems and generally do not poses a threat to the water system due to the continuous monitoring regulations put in place by the state. These regulations monitor public water systems for bacterial growth and other contaminants. High pressures found with water systems help to create a layer of protection that help to keep harmful elements out of the water supply.

“We are losing a large amount of water each day. We have a much smaller system; we only have one employee and limited resources. Fortunately, both our communities use the same engineering service provider and they suggested we work together”, said Darlene Tuner, Powell Township Supervisor.

Negaunee will be working with Powell Township using their water correlator to detect system leaks.

“Once these leaks are found, we will be able to assess the extent of what is needed, how much it will cost, and when we can make these repairs”, Turner said.

Questions concerning this release may be directed to the attention of City Manager, Nate Heffron at (906) 475-7700 ext. 11, and Powell Township Supervisor Darlene Turner at 906 345-9345 Ext. 14.

Note: See (1) attachment “picture”, from left to right Jason Wallner, Mayor of Negaunee, Darlene Turner, Powell Township Supervisor, and Nate Heffron, City Manager of Negaunee.