Published Friday, November 8, 2002
at water
plant
Herald Staff Writers
And while the authority deals with the latest setback, a backup rental pump brought in last week -- which caused problems with the clarifiers Monday -- continues to keep the water rising slowly but steadily in the storage tanks, he said.
"They were fitting the clarifiers to the rental pump to make sure that problem doesn't happen again," said Miller, referring to what occurred Monday afternoon that prompted the state Department of Environmental Protection to issue a boil-water and conservation advisory for authority customers.
The rental pump failed to keep leaves and other debris out of the filtration system. Crews had to shut down the treatment plant to correct the problem, causing the water level in the storage tanks to dip to dangerously low levels and, in turn, raising the risk of contamination. By Monday evening the Army Reserves had trucked in drinking water for the authority's more than 3,700 customers and classes were canceled for Tuesday at Greenville's public and parochial schools.
The rental pump was brought in last week when one of the water department's pumps broke down, and the new pump that was ordered in June had not yet arrived.
The new pump arrived Monday but malfunctioned. The cause of that malfunction is still being investigated, though authority spokesmen said that debris left in the filtration system may have damaged it, or that it was improperly tested before it left Kansas, where it was made. The authority bought the pump for $20,000 through Basic Services Inc. of Zelienople.
People from Basic Services were at the plant Thursday night to try to get the pump up and running again, said water authority Superintendant Bill Brady, who added the company is responsible for the pump installation.
The pump took 15 weeks to build; a new pump would also take 15 weeks to build, Miller said.
Brady has said the rental pump would be kept for at least two weeks after the problems with the permanent, new pump are straightened out. He said renting the pump is "very cheap," costing about $850 a week.
While crews are trying to fix the problems, Miller assured customers that the water levels are slowly rising in the storage tanks, but are nowhere near what they should be. He said customers are still being asked to conserve as much as possible.
Brady said the water has been tested several times for bacteria and as of 3 p.m. Thursday, nothing had been found in it. As a precaution, customers are to continuing boiling any water they consume for 3 minutes, he said.
Water buffaloes, tankers each containing 400 gallons of drinking water, are set up in the water authority office building on Clinton Street, at the fire station on East Avenue and at White-Cliff Nursing Home on Fredonia Road in Hempfield Township. Customers are asked to take their own containers if they need drinking water.