City considers reuse and recirculation options after high splash‑pad operating costs

Speaker 3 described options to reduce operating costs for the Windjammer splash pad, which initially cost about $250,000 a season to operate and has been reduced by recent controller tweaks. Staff proposed a $300,000 project to either install a recirculatory treatment system or capture drained potable water into a non‑potable tank tied to irrigation.

"The splash pad is a nonrecirculatory potable water system... it's very costly to operate," Speaker 3 said, adding that small controls changes already produced an estimated 45% decrease in water use. The board raised safety concerns about returning non‑potable water to areas where children might access it; Speaker 3 said the plan would not pipe non‑potable water back to the splash pad itself but could route reclaimed water into irrigation systems.

Speaker 5 reported that purple pipe — the industry marker for reclaimed water — is installed around the park and was intended to connect to the sewage treatment plant, but those connections were not completed. Speaker 3 also noted recent line breaks in the new system have approached $70,000 in repair costs and that a pressure‑reduction valve is expected in roughly four weeks to reduce breakage risk.

Next steps: staff will evaluate the cost/benefit and technical feasibility of a recirculatory system versus a reclaimed‑water irrigation approach, address pressure-control fixes to stop recurring line breaks, and return recommendations to the board. No procurement or construction contract was approved at the workshop.