City takes a look at relocating well no. 8

 

Last updated 3/9/2021 at 11:23am

Katie Teachout

From left, Ben Varela of Varela Engineering, City Councilman Scott Yaeger, City Public Works Director Dave Breazeale and City Councilwoman Michelle Plumb stand in the spot chosen for relocation of Well No. 8 Wednesday, March 3.

RITZVILLE – Public Works Director Dave Breazeale met with council members Scott Yaeger and Michelle Plumb and Ben Varela of the city's contracted engineering firm to choose a spot for relocation of Well No. 8 Wed., March 3.

Yaeger and Plumb are on city council's Public Works Committee, along with Mike Schrag. The committee addresses issues regarding the city's water, sewer, streets and airport.

"The replacement of Well No. 8 has been something the city has wanted to accomplish for almost two decades," Plumb said. "It's been part of the long term water plan and will relieve us of the smaller but costly repairs that we've been accumulating on it over the years."

Well No. 8, the city's back-up well, hasn't been online for several years. Breazeale said recordings on the well stopped eight years ago. Varela said the water in the well dropped enough that it could not be reached with the old well. According to Breazeale, in the initial drilling of the well, they hit water at 680 feet, but before the well went offline, they had to go down to 760 feet.

The new location needs to be at least 30 feet from the original well, and Varela said the drillers would require a flat space of 100 feet by 150 feet to drill the well, on ground firm enough to support two 40-foot trailers including the drilling rig.

"This site can work, but it will require some engineering," Varela said of the spot chosen just downhill from the current well. Well 8 is located off of Cherry Street on city-owned property next to the baseball fields.

Varela said the berm beside the current well house could be scraped away and added to the native soil on the flat ground, topped off with gravel.

Yaeger suggested using CTB, or Cement-Treated Base, a product combining 3% to 5% powder cement with native soil and water that hardens to form a strong, frost-resistant paving material.

"It will cost half as much as the gravel," Yaeger said.

The group talked about the possibility of having the drilling truck access the site from alongside the baseball field, which will require removal of a few of the standing poplars. That access would be less expensive and less work than flattening the ground enough to access the site from above.

They plan to tie in to the 10-inch pipe located uphill, past the original well, rather than the six-inch pipe located in the baseball field.

"We will drill to the same specifics as Well No. 9 (next to the golf course), for future growth," Breazeale said. "It won't pump out at the same capacity, but it will be there if we need it later."

Varela and Associates specializes in public works projects and infrastructure planning and funding.

Varela said his firm already started designing the project, so he should be able to get a draft for the city to review in a couple weeks.

"Then it has to go to the Department of Health, and RD (Rural Development), which is where the funding is coming from," Varela said.

Breazeale said Well No. 8 has a brand new motor, which should work for the new location.

A new well house will be built, and Yeager said it will need to contain a concrete stem wall with a height of two to three feet to prevent water going into the building.

When the group arrived at the site Wednesday afternoon, they discovered a leak had sprung in the old well. Varela said the check valve may have broken off during the recent cold weather, and Breazeale thought the leak may have begun Monday or Tuesday, during the thaw. The leak ceased when Public Works employee Mike Geschke came and shut off the main valve.

Breazeale said past problems with Well No. 8 include a crooked shaft.

"The deviation from top to bottom is at least 10 feet," Breazeale said.

According to the Water Use Efficiency Annual Performance Report for the year 2020, released Feb. 4, 2021, total water produced and purchased in 2020 was 235,869,216 gallons, with an authorized consumption of 227,353,380 gallons. The additional 8,515,836 gallons of water were attributed to distribution system leakage, at 3.6%. The three-year annual average, for 2018 through 2020, was 5.0%.

The city reported council decided to reduce average residential water consumption by five gallons per day. Council voted during their 2021 budget proceedings to increase bulk water rates from $10 for every 1,000 gallons after the initial first 1,000 gallons to $20. Bulk water is sold to vendors who are not residential customers, such as the railroad.

"The city was fortunate to receive a substantial loan/grant which we will use to make much-needed repairs," the annual report read. "We have many projects slated for the next two years which will greatly reduce our water loss."

 

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