City officials believe drinking water is too precious to be pouring over Patterson’s plants, and last week they continued the process of creating a nonpotable water system.

The nonpotable system would allow water that doesn’t meet state standards for drinking to be used for landscaping. The system has the potential to save more than 25 percent of the city’s drinking water during peak demands, according to the city’s water consultant, Cort Abney.

Abney and the city’s public works department brought a proposal for the system to Thursday’s Patterson Planning Commission meeting and won approval with a 3-0 vote. The approval cleared the way for the installation of 12,000 feet of pipe, construction of a new well and reactivating an existing well.

The Patterson City Council will likely award a construction contract sometime this summer, said Patterson Public Works Director Mike Willett. He estimates the project will cost about $1.4 million.

The new well will be at the intersection of Keystone Pacific Parkway and Park Center Drive. The old well will be brought back on line after having been closed because the nitrate levels exceeded state safety standards.

While the well will still be pumping the lower quality water, the new system will only use it for landscaping. This did raise concerns for some commissioners, who wondered if water high in nitrates would cause problems for the parks and the people who use them.

Willett said even regularly drinking high-nitrate water for extended periods of time increases the risk of cancer only slightly, so there is virtually no chance of a health risk from watering parks with the high-nitrate water.

However, there is a chance it could affect plant life. The plan is to see how the greenery handles it, and then take action as necessary.

Commissioners seemed OK with Willett’s assurance, and their only other concern involved the monitoring of the wells. The state regulates testing of drinking water, but there would be no oversight of the nonpotable system. Commissioners wanted the city to regularly test the wells and added the recommendation to their approval.

The portion of the plan the commission reviewed is just the first phase of a massive water plan that’s already received the council’s approval.

The initial phase will allow the nonpotable water to be used for landscaping at the Keystone Pacific Business Park in western Patterson. Eventually, the system will supply water for all of Patterson’s parks and large industrial areas. Any future housing developments might also connect to the system, though there are no plans to tie existing houses to the nonpotable system.

In the long-term, the nonpotable system would eventually tie into the sewer treatment plant and would allow “reclaimed” water — treated sewer water — to be used in the nonpotable system. However, city staff does not expect that to happen for many years, Willett said.

In the short term, staff hopes to have the start of the nonpotable system in place and a new drinking water well on-line by summer so the city will be able to handle large warm-weather demands.

Contact John Saiz at 892-6187 or john@pattersonirrigator.com.