Crews recently put down new water main pipe for the Worden Ballantine Yellowstone County Water and Sewer District.
“The water main transmission main between Ballantine and Worden, they share a water system and it's all dilapidated. Some of it's back in the 1950s when it was first installed,” said Tyler Burns, Great Western Engineering project manager.
It's been a long process dealing with water rights and meeting environmental regulations to bring fresh water to the area.
Watch Worden water story here:
The nearly $11 million project started a few years ago with digging new wells at 40 feet below the surface to replace the old wells dug at five feet down.
“We're contaminated with the surface water,” said Marc Larson, a board member and secretary treasurer for the district. “Now we're taking it down below and encasing it down below that surface water, and that which is which will give us good good water.”
Larson says nitrates in the water are common because of fertilizer and farming areas, a problem that has forced the district to provide bottled water since 2019 because of health concerns with drinking the tap water.
“You can wash clothes, brush your teeth, take a bath, you get to flush the toilets,” Larson said. “You can do all that. The only thing you can't do is consume it.”
Larson says that means you can not drink or cook with the tap water.
Those living in Worden and Ballantine have had to find fresh drinking water now for five years, and while it's become part of their routine, they're still very happy to see the progress of the construction project.
“We've got three different sizes back here, two different kinds,” said Michael Reiter, owner/operator of Merc Project, a grocery store in Worden. "But three different sizes of water, the 40 pack and the 24 count pack, and that's all stocked out on the floor also.”
Reiter sells water at his store and also hauls pallets of water down the block so the district can give it to residents.
“It's been a challenge for everybody,” Reiter said. “But it's going to be nice when all the lines are laid and you can actually walk in and turn on that faucet and be able to drink it.”
“We've always drank water from here,” Jay Santy said about Merc Project. "It hasn't affected us too much. We're just happy that it's coming back soon.”
A firm will soon be chosen for the next phase, and it's expected everyone will have water by June of 2026.
“It should be a little sooner, but the complete project will be hopefully done in June,” Larson said.
Here is how the project is funded:
USDA RD Grant:$2,854,000.00
USDA RD Loan:$3,118,000.00
ARPA Competitive Grant: $2,000,000.00
Yellowstone County Minimum Allocating Grant:$2,837,191.00
District Funds:$151,490.00
Total Funding Package:$10,960,681.00
