Pleasanton council approves installing temporary pump when permanent system is designed

The electrical panel for the pumps on the Pleasanton East Lake dam is being kept open to keep the service cooler as workers await a new temporary pump. (Photo by Roger Sims / Linn County Journal)

By Roger Sims, Journal staff

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

PLEASANTON – The Pleasanton City Council during a special meeting on Thursday, Aug. 13, voted to hire Kevin Starbuck to install a temporary pump for $8,126 to restore normal water service to the city. It is anticipated that installation of the temporary pump will end the restriction on outdoor water use now in effect.

The council at that meeting also learned that the possibility of hooking up to Public Wholesale Water Supply District (PWWSD) No. 13, will cost around $605,000 and the connection will only serve as a backup water supply. Even at that it would be a year before that connection would be made.

The council in a special meeting on Saturday, Aug. 8, voted to issue a water emergency order prohibiting outdoor watering after it was determined that the pumps at the East Lake could not keep up with the demand.

The temporary pump is expected to remain in place for four weeks or less until the permanent replacement pumps can be installed. The council is expected to receive a proposal on permanent replacement at the council’s meeting on Monday, Aug. 17. That meeting is being shifted from City Hall to the Pleasanton Community Center because of the the anticipated crowd.

Mayor Mathew Young said that the $8,126 paid to Starbuck included setting up the pump and paying for one month’s rent at about $4,000 per month. While he said he doesn’t anticipate needing the pump beyond that, the city has the option to rent the pump for an additional month if needed.

The temporary pump operates on a diesel engine while the current pumps use electricity.

Josh Ralle, city water plant operator, said of the three pumps supplying water from the Pleasanton East Lake to the water plant, one was inoperable, a second was leaking most of the water from a cracked sleeve, a third was overheating the control panel when it operated, and a smaller backup pump was shot.

He said to keep the keep the water plant supplied at its current level, pump no. 2 ran during the day and pump no. 3 was in operation at night.

Ralle noted that one issue the city has with those pumps is it does not have a hoist to lift them. When asked when the pumps were last inspected, he said there was no paperwork concerning inspections.

According to Young, the temporary pump will be able to provide up to 240 gallons per minute vs. the 80 to 90 gpm currently being provided. Apparently because of the lower flow of the current system, there is rust and likely some build up in the lines that is causing back pressure issues.

An audience member voiced concern that the current lines might not be able to withstand the increased volume, but Councilmember Kenny Stark said he was told that the lines could withstand the increased pressure.

Young said the city of Pleasanton uses 52 million gallons of water per year, and that officials with PWWSD No. 13 said the system is almost at capacity and couldn’t become a longterm water source until improvements, which are under way, are completed. However, the district could supply between 250 and 300 gallons per minute on an emergency basis.

The mayor said that the temporary solution would likely undercut the city’s chances of getting an emergency grant the council had discussed. However, he said, there was another 50% grant that the city could apply for.

“We cannot stay in the condition we’re in through this grant period, because the grant will still take time,” Young said. “We can still apply for that. Even though we’re out of the conservation emergency, we still have the overall infrastructure emergency that will kind of continue on with that until our pumps are fully fixed.”

The replacement pumps will be made of stainless steel, and Young said he hoped that the new system would help avoid the difficult conversations that have been occurring in the wake of water shortage.

An audience member asked about rebuilding the current pumps, but Young said there was no paperwork on when the pumps were installed, and in order to inspect them, all of three would need to be pulled. That would cut water supplied to the filtering plant for a while.

He indicated that once the temporary pump was in place, the current pumps could be pulled and inspected.

“If they could be repaired, how long would they last?” Young asked. “That’s going to be dependent on how old they are and other factors like that.”