Silvis residents should soon be experiencing better water pressure from their taps and Moline residents more stable – and perhaps lower – water rates going forward with the connection of Silvis to Moline’s water supply.
On Wednesday, March 8, employees at Moline’s water treatment plant opened valves to go live with water supply to Silvis, the culmination of a project two years in the making.
Silvis has long struggled with low water pressure issues using its existing wells. Meantime, Moline has reserve capacity in its system, which treats and distributes water from the Mississippi River. Moline began discussing sharing excess capacity with Silvis officials in November of 2021 and in February of 2022 made a formal proposal to connect the two water systems.
An intergovernmental agreement was passed by both City Councils in April 2022 and permitting, engineering design and construction started shortly thereafter.
“This week, the project has come to completion, resulting in a mutually beneficial situation for each community,” said Tony Loete, Moline’s Director of Utilities.
Moline will now supply around 400,000 gallons of water per day to Silvis. Loete said adding Silvis as a customer will allow rate increases for Moline residents to be deferred or postponed, even as operating costs increase. Hooking up Silvis is expected to result in around $327,000 in additional annual revenue to the Moline water fund.