By JAN McLAUGHLIN

BG Independent News

Two major companies locating in the Bowling Green area have huge water needs. But that’s nothing Bowling Green can’t handle, says Brian O’Connell, the city’s public infrastructure director.

Abbott Laboratories’ planned plant on the northern edge of Bowling Green could use up to 1 million gallons of water per day. Abbott plans to invest more than $500 million in the site and create 450 permanent jobs.

The as-yet-unnamed data center planned near Ohio 582 and Ohio 25 is also expected to use a lot of water, potentially requiring as much as 600,000 gallons per day. The site will be served by the Northwestern Water and Sewer District and will use water from Bowling Green.

That’s why the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities approved a new contract with the district Monday night. The city already supplies the district with about 860,000 gallons of water per day.

The new contract would allow the sale of an additional 600,000 gallons of water per day to the district, up to a maximum of 1.5 million gallons per day.

The city has the capacity to meet the increased water demand and has enough water from the Maumee River to meet the needs, O’Connell said after the meeting.

“The plant has never had a water shortage,” O’Connell said. While some communities upstream have had no water in the past, the water supply for the Bowling Green water system is in a “bowl” of the river, he said.

Bowling Green is one of the communities that relies on the Maumee River and has a water supply of 14 to 15 million gallons per day. The city can treat 10 million gallons per day, but typically averages 5 million gallons of water per day.

As part of the data center deal, the developer has reportedly agreed to build a 2 million gallon water tower to meet the company’s water needs. That tower is estimated to cost $8 million to $10 million to build, according to O’Connell.

“We believe it will be a benefit to the entire region,” said Tom Stalter, engineer with the Northwestern Water and Sewer District.

The city’s utilities department has made forward-looking plans to meet increasing water demand.

Earlier this year, the Bowling Green Board of Public Utilities voted to approve a $4 million expansion of the membrane treatment process at the city’s water treatment plant.

The city’s goal is to complete the water treatment plant expansion in 2025 before Abbott begins production sometime in 2026 or 2027.

“We have sufficient capacity at the plant to deliver this water,” said Deputy Utilities Director Jim Odneal on Monday evening.

In addition, the Utilities Committee voted earlier this year to allow the city to accept engineering and construction contracts and enter into a loan agreement with the Ohio Water Development Authority or the Ohio EPA for the project.

Then in June, Bowling Green took another step to expand reservoir capacity adjacent to its water treatment plant, which draws water from the Maumee River.

The public utility’s board of directors voted unanimously to purchase two acres of land immediately north of the water treatment plant.

The new space could potentially double the water reservoir area of ​​the plant at 17549 W. River Road. This was the second land purchase for more reservoir area. In early 2023, Bowling Green purchased 36 acres to add reservoir area next to its water treatment plant.

The water treatment plant currently has a raw water reservoir with a capacity of 170 million gallons. The additional area acquired last year is expected to increase storage capacity to 100 to 150 million gallons of raw water.

The city pumps river water into the reservoir when river water quality is better. When there are higher levels of pollutants in the river, such as turbidity, sediment, storm events, nitrates, agricultural runoff, etc., they try to avoid pumping.

The reservoir then supplies raw water to the plant for treatment. This allows the plant to use the best quality raw water for the treatment process, reducing costs and avoiding potential problems.

The existing reservoir offers a storage capacity of approximately 30 to 45 days at current water production.

Water from Bowling Green is supplied to several municipalities. The Northwestern Water and Sewer District supplies water from the BG plant to villages such as Bloomdale, Bairdstown, Weston, Portage, Liberty Center and McClure.

Bowling Green supplies water to other communities such as Waterville, Grand Rapids, Tontogany and Haskins itself.