Pittsburg ? A water supply district in southeast Kansas may soon switch to wind turbines to power its treatment plant.

Jim Gaskell is project manager for the Public Wholesale Water Supply District No. 11 in Arcadia. The district’s board asked him to research the possibilities of powering the water treatment plant using wind turbines.

If studies show it can be done, Gaskell said the district’s plan is to get a turbine that could generate 225 kilowatts per hour, just enough to operate the plant located outside Arma.

The board is working with state and federal agencies on financing.

But first things first. Gaskell said an engineering feasibility study still needs to be conducted to determine whether such a project is possible in southeast Kansas.