City hopes for splash by reusing water

New Berlin - If a splashpad splashes down in New Berlin as many hope it will, it would be like a swimming pool in that it would reuse treated water.

A splashpad is a water playground where children run under colorful animal or geometric figures that squirt or pour water onto them.

Although some splashpads use fresh water continuously rather than recirculate, those are much more expensive to operate, said Mark Schroeder, director of parks, recreation and forestry. The consultant that is helping the city explore the splashpad idea, SAA Design Group, puts operating costs at $30,044 per season, not including staffing, for the flow-through splashpad compared with $4,291 for the recirculating kind.

However, the recirculating splashpads are more expensive to install, Schroeder said. While comparative costs depend on what features are chosen for the park, the design consultant estimated that operational savings from the recirculating system would make up the difference in five or six years.

But more than dollars and cents concern the New Berlin Parks, Recreation and Forestry Commission.

"One of the things the commission has talked about is being good stewards of water resources," Schroeder said. And that is another reason it went with the recirculating option.

The proposed splashpad would be in Malone Park. The New Berlin Junior Woman's Club has already raised more than $60,000 for the splashpad and has pledged to raise more if the city gives the go-ahead for the waterpark.

- Jane Ford-Stewart