CU still grappling with pump station problems

All three of the station’s hydraulic pumps have failed since September 2005. The 6-ton pumps are used to pump water to McDaniel and Fellows lakes north of Springfield when the water level at Stockton Lake dips below a certain point.

CU officials said 2006 was the second-highest year in terms of water pumped from Stockton Lake, due in large part to long-running drought conditions. But most of the work this year was done by a barge CU began renting in the spring when the third and final pump failed.

To date, CU has spent $1.18 million on rental costs, and the bill continues to climb at a rate of $2,750 a day, officials say. On a positive note, one of the pumps on the barge now belongs to CU, which recently exercised a $500,000 option to buy the unit.

The publicly owned utility also has spent at least $350,000 removing the broken pumps and shipping them to Vermont for repairs. But months of troubleshooting by manufacturer Hayward Tyler Inc. apparently missed the mark.

The first pump returned to service failed again Dec. 1 and is headed back to Vermont for repairs. The second repaired unit is back in Springfield, officials have said, and will soon be reinstalled.

Hayward Tyler has agreed to cover the cost of transporting the pumps to Vermont for their next regularly scheduled five-year maintenance. The company, which did not return a call seeking comment, also agreed to stock repair parts for the custom pumps.

‘Better mousetrap?’

The persistent pump problems have frustrated CU officials and carved a sizeable chunk out of the budget ¬– money that was previously earmarked for other projects.

The reliability of the pumps also has been a regular topic of discussion at meetings of CU’s Citizens’ Advisory Council.

“Is there a better mousetrap?” asked Bill Smillie, an advisory council member and owner of Smillie’s IGA. “I think the alternative companies are few and far between that build this size pump.”

CU is now looking at drafting specifications for new pumps and soliciting bids from other manufacturers, said Roddy Rogers, manager of water distribution and supply.

That process – should it receive a green light – could take months. And that doesn’t include the time it would take to build the pumps.

Diagnosis

CU responded to the pump failures with a comprehensive review of its Stockton Lake pump station, which included a closer examination of its electrical components and valves. The first two pumps malfunctioned after debris ¬¬– a combination of snail shells and pipe lining – clogged water lines, causing the pumps’ 1,200-horsepower motors to overheat.

CU officials have said a lightning surge may have damaged the third pump in April.

Laurel Talbot, owner of Lightning Surge Protection Co. in Appleton City, said he sold CU a lightning surge arrestor for $1,800 in August. The surge arrestor diverts lightning and other surges when there’s too much voltage, said Talbot, who wasn’t sure if the device had been installed.

CU spokesman Mark Viguet did not know if the surge arrestor had been installed, but he said the utility has taken steps to suppress electrical surges at the pump station.

Rogers said upgrades include remote devices that monitor the temperature of the motors as well as new valves to replace existing ones that stick and contribute to overheating. The cost of four butterfly valves and four ball valves is $176,600, Rogers said.

CU also has hired Kansas City consulting firm Black & Veatch to study the pump station and make recommendations on how to improve its operation. Rogers said the firm’s findings are expected in early 2007.

Viguet was unable to provide the amount of CU’s contract with Black & Veatch for the study, but the Springfield News-Leader reported in April that CU agreed to pay the firm $39,000.

Andrew Peters, an architect with Marshall-Woody-Waters Associates who sits on the advisory council, said he’s confident CU will sort out the pump station problems. It may be that 10 years of wear and tear on the pumps has just taken its toll, Peters said.

“It’s very unfortunate that all of the pumps have problems at the same time, but I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a huge issue myself.”

Rogers remains hopeful that 2007 will bring adequate rainfall, thereby lessening the need to pump water from Stockton Lake.

“If it rained, that would be the best thing,” he said. “If it had been a normal year of rainfall, this wouldn’t have been that big of a problem.”