Temporary pump goes down at Pleasanton lake but expected to be back in operation on Friday

Despite a temporary pump going down on Thursday, it is expected to be in operation again on Friday. The rented pump has been blasting out sludge that accumulated in the line from the East Lake to the water treatment plant. (Journal file photo)

By Roger Sims

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

PLEASANTON – An unexpected failure of a temporary pump on Thursday, Aug. 27, has delayed the lifting of a Pleasanton City Council order that bans outdoor watering from the city’s water supply.

According to Mayor Mathew Young, the rental pump went down, stopping the work that has been going on to stabilize the city’s water supply.

The temporary pump, which can operate at higher pressures than the permanent pumps at the city’s East Lake dam, was able to dislodge a considerable amount of built-up sludge in the three-mile water line that runs from the lake’s dam to the city’s water plant, Young said.

City workers have been able to divert the sludge from the system at the water plant before it goes into the clarifier and filters.

The temporary pump is expected to be online sometime today, Aug. 28, and a second round of flushing the line will take place in addition to keeping the city’s water tower full.

Once the flushing has completed and the pump is operating at a more normal pressure, the city council is expected to call an emergency meeting to lift the outdoor watering order.

The three permanent pumps at the lake were limping along with one of them unusable, another leaking, and the third causing the control panel to overheat.

The council earlier this month approved renting the higher pressure temporary pump for a month for more than $8,000, including installation. But it was forced to meet later to approve up to $3,000 for running pipe from the middle of the dam to the building where chemical is added on the west side of the dam.

Starbuck Trucking, the contractor on the project is expected to install two new stainless steel pumps on the dam within the next few weeks to replace the old pumps, which were corroded by the high alkalinity of the water in the lake, which is a former strip mine.