On March 17, 2020, the cities of Waukesha and New Berlin officially agreed to work together to move Waukesha’s water supply program forward. As part of the agreement, the proposed booster pumping station (BPS) will not be built in Minooka Park in New Berlin as initially intended but will instead be located on Waukesha’s east-central side near Broadway and Les Paul Parkway.

With this agreement, the project can move forward on schedule which is critical to bringing sustainable water to Waukesha in an affordable way. The Great Water Alliance remains committed to providing safe drinking water to the 70,000 citizens of Waukesha by the September 1, 2023 deadline.

In order to bring this sustainable and safe new water supply to Waukesha, a new infrastructure has to be built, including a booster pumping station, reservoirs, and a water tower.

Important Facts

  1. The Waukesha BPS location will use a portion of federal land that was given to the city for a planned city park. However, Waukesha has agreed to purchase some adjacent land and will double the size of the planned park to approximately 35 acres.
  2. The booster pumping station and reservoirs will be similar to those in other neighborhoods, such as 513 Crestwood in Waukesha and 27th and Puetz in Oak Creek. The station simply pumps water from one place to another.
  3. The water tower will also be similar to those in other neighborhoods, such as the tower at UW-Waukesha.
  4. Landscaping around the booster pumping station and the 8.6 MG reservoir tanks will include evergreens and other trees that will screen view of the tanks from Broadway. The tanks will be approximately 60 feet tall. Some of the existing trees on the west and south portions of the property will be kept to aid in the screening.
  5. The lighting of the booster pumping station will be minimal. Besides the entry gate pole mounted light, the lighting around the booster pumping station will be 0.01 foot-candles at the ground, fifty times less than the maximum allowed. The measurement of light at the property line will be the same level of light as a night illuminated by a full moon and will not be visible from 500 feet away. No lights at the booster pumping station will be positioned facing the sky or neighboring properties.
  6. The only regular noise from the site is the once a week testing of the on-site generator. The test will last for approximately 30 minutes during daytime. If you are standing right at the property line at the time of the test, the noise level (62 dB) would be similar to that of a vacuum cleaner which is 70 decibels.
  7. Research shows that pumping stations and reservoirs, commonly placed in neighborhoods across the country, do not affect the value of homes in the area according to studies by appraisal associations.

Open communication is critically important to the success of this construction. Neighbors, businesses, places of worship as well as others along the pipeline route and near the new site will receive information about what this change means to them as the project moves forward.

As evidence of this, an online open house for those near and around the new BPS location was held on August 26, 2020. Visit the In Your Area – Waukesha page on the Great Water Alliance website to view the open house meeting and discussion.

The city of Waukesha’s goal is to ensure that everyone who may be affected by construction is well-informed, even in these times of social distancing.