A potable water booster station is in the works for Newcastle at Western Avenue. It is expected to increase water pressure in the area, according to City Engineer Kenny Sullivan.
The three-pump booster station will help service the Selah Development just outside of Newcastle city limits as well as Newcastle residents in the area, and the Selah Development will pay for the station.
“It will raise the pressure of all those lower pressures in the hills in the area from 30 psi to 50-ish psi,” Sullivan said. “This will also give us higher pressure out of our fire hydrants in the area.”
Sullivan said parts for the booster station are difficult to obtain so that will impact the build out of the station and will impact its timely use.
Sullivan said the Selah Development will be needing water for housing construction in the next six to nine months.
The Selah Development is a 540-acre planned community which, when complete, will have homes, restaurants, and businesses.
The City earlier approved an agreement with Better Earth Solutions, LLC, a company currently building Selah, for the purchase of water.
Mayor Karl Nail said the City doesn’t currently have a maximum amount of water they can take in the contract, but once the City completes a project to place an 18-inch water line south of Fox Lane to the SH-9 water tower, this won’t be a problem. That project, according to Nail, will cost the City about $11 million.
The booster station was an agenda item at the January City Council meeting. A side discussion by the Council was that the City needs to upgrade water lines servicing the area along State Highway 9. Sullivan added that the booster station project will not affect that.
