MUSCATINE, Iowa — Drilling of a test hole took place Wednesday afternoon for a project that will  provide a geothermal-powered heating and air conditioning system to the Muscatine Public Safety Building.

A-One Geothermal Inc. of Earlham used equipment to drill the 200-foot-deep hole. Within the next few weeks, a contractor for the company will visit the site to test for conductivity to find out the specific properties of the area in order to go forward with the project.

The hole was drilled in the Public Safety Building parking lot at 312 E. Fifth St. Geothermal wells would be installed near the intersection of Fifth and Walnut streets.

The Muscatine City Council and Muscatine County Board of Supervisors will vote on a plan to settle a disagreement that delayed the project for three months. 

Previously, the Council had been under the impression that there was a

verbal agreement with the Board allowing the use of the county-owned land. The Board’s members denied that and said they needed time to make a decision.

On Monday night the Board announced that “a reasonable proposal” was on the table allowing the City to use the property. In exchange, the city will offer use of a parking lot on Third Street between and Cedar and Sycamore streets, across from City Hall, to the county if a geothermal system is installed for the jail in the future.

Members of both entities met last week to reach the agreement. City officials plan to present a written proposal to supervisors during their board meeting on Monday, March 2, and then the Council will vote on it Thursday, March 5.

Details

According to Popular Mechanics:

The heart of a typical geothermal system is a ground-source heat pump that cycles water through an underground piping loop. The water piped through this loop uses soil temperature to warm or cool the heat pump’s refrigerant.

Geothermal heat pumps are similar to ordinary heat pumps, but use the ground instead of outside air to provide heating, air conditioning and, in most cases, hot water. Because they use the earth’s natural heat, they are among the most efficient and comfortable heating and cooling technologies available, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.