West Michigan Regional Water Authority

Water main network in Norton Shores and Fruitport Township that will be supplied via Muskegon's water supply

Norton Shores' and Fruitport Township's West Michigan Regional Water Authority is set to start buying water from the city of Muskegon rather than Muskegon Heights.

FRUITPORT TOWNSHIP, MI - Waters will flow down a brand-new water main on Wednesday, April 15, from the city of Muskegon to suburbs Norton Shores and Fruitport Township.

Those two communities to the south of the Muskegon metro area have historically purchased water from Muskegon Heights. Years of disagreements over rates and a deep political divide resulted in Norton Shores and Fruitport creating the West Michigan Regional Water Authority, and striking a deal with the city of Muskegon.

The authority sold $15.5 million in bonds to build the water mains and other parts needed to connect. Fruitport's Matthew Farrar, Chairman of the water authority, said as much as $4.5 million in expenditures would be necessary to update the system even if the two communities kept on buying their water from Muskegon Heights.

Years of talk and plans will wash down a 36-inch-wide pipe on Wednesday morning, which is when officials plan to make the switch. If all goes as planned, consumers won't notice a thing, they say.

"Physically, it's a very simple process," said Muskegon Heights' utilities director John Allen.

"If we didn't tell anybody we were doing this, nobody would know when," Farrar said, who is chairman of the West Michigan Regional Water Authority.

About 9 a.m., Muskegon Heights will turn off the taps where it its main filtration plant on Seminole Road interconnects with the Norton Shores/Muskegon Heights system. At the same time it will increase water flow at its booster plant at the corner of the corner of Norton Avenue and Getty Street. The process is expected to take 10-15 minutes, Allen said.

The Fruitport water tower - the big yellow one with a smiley face near the highway - will help regulate any drop in water pressure, Farrar said.

"We could shut down everything off for a half hour and it would handle it," Farrar said. "We don't anticipate any changes in pressure (for consumers)."

The city of Muskegon will turn on the taps at its Beach Street Water filtration plant, and water will flow south down the water main towards the interconnect on Seminole Road. The valve on Seminole Road will be opened, pushing Muskegon water into the Norton Shores/Fruitport pipes.

Once the pressure on that valve is fully open, Muskegon Heights will shut down its Getty Street booster station.

"They are isolated at that point," Allen said.

Much of these actions will take place simply with button-pushing in control centers, Allen said. In several locations, workers may have to open covers to open or close valves.

The Getty booster station will be moved from the corner of Norton Avenue and Getty Street to the corner of Sherman and Black Creek Road. The new booster station will act as a secondary connection to the Muskegon system for emergency purposes.

Allen pointed out that nothing is being destroyed and the connections will remain in place in case of an emergency need.

Valves will be switched closed, but "everything will remain intact," he said.

Stephen Kloosterman is a reporter for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email him at sklooste@mlive.com or follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+

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