By Eric Swanson, Staff Writer Southwest Ledger
MOUNTAIN PARK – The Mountain Park Board of Trustees approved on Monday a 99-year lease for the building that houses the town’s water pumping station.
The board voted to lease the building, which is located in Snyder, from the Snyder Public Works Authority. The lease will allow Mountain Park to repair and maintain the pumping station.
A new facility, which will allow the town to use chloramines to treat the water, will be built onto the pumping station.
Chloramines, also known as secondary disinfection, are a type of disinfectant used to treat drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. They are most commonly formed when ammonia is added to chlorine for water treatment, and they provide longer-lasting disinfection as water moves through pipes to consumers.
Public water systems have used chloramines since the 1930s, and more than one in five Americans use drinking water treated with the disinfectant, according to the EPA. Water that contains chloramines and meets federal regulatory standards is safe for drinking, cooking, bathing and other everyday uses.