Colorado Springs’ water treatment plants and holding tanks need work – $36 million worth in the next five years.The biggest problem lies with the Mesa Water Treatment Plant, which could soak up $26 million if the city revamps how its oldest water treatment plant does the job.The overview was presented Wednesday to the City Council, meeting as the Utilities Board. It’s one of three reports on the water system’s needs being given this spring.The city’s raw water system – reservoirs, pipes and pumps that deliver water from the mountains – needs $65 million in upgrades in the next decade, a report in March said.Next month, the council will get a forecast for the distribution system.On Wednesday, treatment plants and tanks were in the spotlight. The city’s five treatment facilities – Pine Valley, Mc-Cullough, Mesa, Fountain Valley Authority and Ute Pass – have a capacity of 215.5 million gallons a day.Although the city’s usage peaked several years ago at 184 million gallons in a day, conservation steps have caused usage to decline sharply. Last year, the peak was only 140 million gallons.But aging systems need upgrades, and at Mesa, built in 1942, only 28 percent of the plant’s components are in good shape.”We found that about 40 percent of the equipment had reached the end of its useful life,” water treatment manager Curtis Mitchell said.He said if significant work is needed, it might be time to change Mesa’s treatment process to one that will better handle water from Monument and Fountain creeks, which isn’t as clean as mountain water.The city’s 38 storage tanks are in better shape, said Lisa Barbato, in water planning and design.Only 12 are more than 40 years old and can be expected to last another 35 years, she said.Council members expressed concern the bulk of spending on treatment plants and tanks is proposed for 2009 to 2013 – when the city will be building the Southern Delivery System, a pipeline from either Pueblo Reservoir or the Arkansas River in Fremont County.Utilities CEO Jerry Forte said the water system assessment was undertaken two years ago to improve the planning process. He said timing could change as water needs are integrated with other services Utilities provides – wastewater, gas and power.

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