NORWICH – The City of Norwich is in the early stages of a pilot study that will help local officials determine how to best operate the $5 million water filtration facility slated for construction later this year.

According to City of Norwich Department of Public Works Superintendent Carl Ivarson, the pilot study, which has been underway for three weeks, will help the department determine the best combination of chemicals and number of filters needed for the new filtration plant. Because some chemical combinations can actually be damaging toward the health of residents, it's important the city gets it right before building and operating the new facility, he explained.

“Right now, we're using different chemicals to see which ones will react best,” he said. “The pilot will tell us if the technology we're looking to use will produce the results we're looking for.”

The pilot program is scheduled to run three more weeks before operators examine data and pass results along to Delaware Engineering, the Oneonta based engineering firm that in December, 2012, was awarded the construction bid for the new filtration plant.