Ellinger Hopes Grant Will Help Solve Water Woes

Ellinger Mayor Matt Mikulenka said the City recently applied for a grant to pay for a new water filtration system. If awarded, the system could help to solve the community’s longstanding water quality problems.

For years the community has been dealing with high levels of arsenic in the drinking water. Last year’s election to incorporate the community as a city was largely in response to the local water utility’s struggles to improve the water supply.

Complicating matters, Ellinger Sewer and Water Corporation’s main water has been running on its last leg. A well driller working for the utility told ESWC in 2019 that the town’s main water well could dry up “any day.” ESWC began drilling a new well which Mikulenka said was recently completed, but the new well cannot go into operation until a filtration system is installed.

ESWC and the City of Ellinger are separate entities. Mikulenka said the City applied for a Federally-funded Community Development Block Grant because ESWC could not do so as a private entity.

If awarded, the grant should fully pay for the filtration system. Mikulenka said he feels optimistic about the Ellinger winning the grant, since the new City has never applied for one before. Right now, the City has no other way of paying for the filtration system. Ellinger voters approved a sales tax at the election in May, but tax revenue will not begin to arrive until January 2022.