CITY OF SIOUX CENTER: Planned Water Rate Change Reflects System Growth, Maintenance

By Press release submission

Sep 9, 2020

City of Sioux Center issued the following announcement on Aug. 31.

To continue to provide for Sioux Center water customers’ needs as the community grows, a planned water rate change will go into effect this fall. This was approved last year by the Sioux Center City Council.

In November, the average home will see an increase of about $2 in their water bill, which is about a 6 percent change. This will be for water used starting in mid-September.

“We continue seeing growth in Sioux Center, and that involves adding new water mains to serve those new businesses and residents. We also need to maintain and upgrade our aging existing water system to avoid main breaks and water plant and well failures,” said Sioux Center Utility Manager Murray Hulstein.

Water Department Head Harlan Kruid said some of Sioux Center’s cast iron water mains were installed when the community was one-third of its current size.

“These small mains were more than sufficient then. Now they serve many more people and people use much more water,” he said. “But, above all, we need to replace these cast iron mains because they are old and deteriorating.”

This summer, the water department replaced a large section of 4-inch cast iron water main between 3rd and 4th Avenue SE. This was replaced with new 6-inch PVC pipe, as pictured here.

On the growth side, Sioux Center continues to add mains in new residential and commercial areas. In 2019, there were 36 new service connections.

The Sioux Center Water Department provides quality water to 2,536 customers drawn from local aquifers and treated to exceed all federal and state standards.