Water pump craps out

The local water system will remain a pump short until midsummer.

When one of the water system’s two main 40 HP pumps burned out recently, water district commissioners gulped at the $83,000 price tag to replace it but still agreed to order it. At their February 10 meeting, district manager Dan Bourks told commissioners the new pump would not arrive until July.

“What happens if the other pump craps out,” asked commissioner Scott Hackleman. The two pumps are used to draw water from Canada and keep it flowing through the local system. One serves as backup for the other, with another two 10 HP pumps as additional backup capacity.

“I can get it flowing with our other pumps, but if there’s a big break…” said Bourks. He added that while the remaining main pump is the same vintage as the one that failed, he felt confident it would get the job done. “It’s six months. I can keep it going,” he said.

In other district news, the Cottages at Seabright Farm completed its water system leaving some of its neighbors without water for two days as the development was tied into the water system. The new real estate project adds 55 connections, the largest single addition to the water system since the marina.