CU prepares to install repaired water pump

The pump has been returned from repairs; its installation may not be complete until the end of July.

Two of the facility’s three pumps broke down last fall, and its third pump failed in March.

In April, CU signed a $650,000 lease agreement to rent a five-pump system to continue sending water to Fellows and McDaniel lakes while the permanent system is repaired. The temporary pumps so far have pumped more than 850 million gallons to those water storage areas in the last two and a half months.

Water storage currently is at 77 percent at the two lakes, compared to a normal storage capacity of 88 percent. CU continues to encourage its customers to conserve water.

Also yesterday, CU provided an update of the construction of a second coal-fired plant at the Southwest Power Station.

The utility expects to break ground for the station’s chimney foundation within two months, and a final contract could be signed next week on the first of many parts of the project.

Springfield approved June 6 a $615-million bond issue to finance the 300-megawatt plant, to be built next to the existing 195-megawatt plant.

The project will be divided into construction of its substructure, the boiler island, the turbine generator and the balance of the plant.