Drilling a new well for the Mindoro Sanitary District has been completed and was scheduled for testing this week.

The new well is expected to be operational by spring. The well is cased to a depth of 180 feet; the depth of the well itself is 360 feet. The resulting supply of water will be treated in the existing treatment facility.

The purpose of the project is to provide additional capacity for the system and a source of backup if problems occur in the existing well.

Sam’s Well Drilling of Randolph, Wis., was awarded the project with the low bid of $73,440. Three other bids were received: Bergerson-Casswell of Maple Plain, Minn. ($96,800); Nelson’s Plumbing and Electric of Tomah ($93,795); and Municipal Well and Pump of Waupun ($90,328).

Davy Engineering Co. of La Crosse is engineering the project, with Mark S. Davy as project manager and Shawn Welte as project engineer.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Public Service Commission approvals were required before the project could begin.

Long-term financing of the project is expected to be available through the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program at 2.68 percent interest over a 20-year period. The SDWLP provides loans to public water systems to build, upgrade or replace water supply infrastructure to protect public health and address federal and state safe drinking water requirements.

The DNR is the primary administrator and the Department of Administration is the financial manager of this program.

Testing of the well must be completed and plans and reports approved by the DNR before bids can be awarded for the second phase of the project — the well house, piping, etc. Approvals are expected by late January or early February.