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South Jordan Journal

Council Orders Study Of Easier Accessibility For New Developments

Mar 27, 2015 09:25AM ● By James Luke
South Jordan City parks and open spaces will be greener, while using less of the valuable culinary water that the community depends upon for home use. The secondary water system that many city residents use for watering lawns and trees will now flow to city parks to keep them green and healthy through the summer.

The irrigation pump house project is on schedule to be ready for the watering season beginning in May. Bowen, Collins and Associates received the contract to design the pump house with leading-edge pumps, filters, and a computerized monitoring system that will ensure the most efficient watering cycles to improve the value of the irrigation system, and Vancon, Inc. started construction on the project in October 2014.

The city notes on its website that "secondary water is not drinkable water. Most of the water comes from Utah Lake and is not treated or filtered. Children should be discouraged from playing in the water." For purposes of watering lawns and city trees, however, the water benefits the city by using less of the treated culinary water that is very expensive and less easily available than the canal water.

Nearly a decade ago, South Jordan issued a "Secondary Water Position Paper" that established the official position on the use and benefits to derive from the four canals that bring Utah Lake water to the city. At the City Council planning session on February 17, the council requested a study from the city's Engineering Division of the feasibility of increasing access to secondary water for new developments in the city.