MONROE - City employees will no longer be the ones to maintain and repair municipal wells under an agreement made by the Board of Public Works on Monday.
A contract between Utility Service Group, which has locations throughout the United States, and the city allows for a 10-year deal in which USG will oversee maintenance and repairs of all five municipal wells. The city budgeted $124,000 for well maintenance for 2016, and under the agreement, the total amount for all five wells will be $120,000 annually. Repairs for both wells no. 3 and 4 are to be included, which City Administrator Phil Rath said are needed.
Rath said that over the course of 10 years, even with an adjusted inflation rate of 5 percent annually after the first four years, the agreement will cost the city roughly $1.4 million.
Issues that commonly arise with water wells include the build up of mineral deposits which cause the structure to become less effective in handling water flow over time. Every five to six years, workers have to pull the entire structure out of the ground and clean out the large deposits as best as possible.
Utilities Supervisor Mike Kennison said well no. 3 cost the city $400,000 five years ago, and the city would need to pull the well above ground within the next year at the cost of $500,000 before the situation becomes "catastrophic." With this agreement, that task now falls to USG workers with less cost to the city.
USG representative Mike Judkins said his company's water well maintenance program uses a relatively new method of cleaning the well. Rather than manually ridding the well of deposits above the surface, USG uses liquid carbon dioxide injected as a cleaning agent. Judkins said this is a "sustainable approach" to maintaining wells. Once the carbon dioxide is injected in its gaseous state, the cold substance penetrates any unwanted sediment 100 feet at a time down into the earth. This process is repeated each year.
Rath said that by having constant monitoring with annual injection cleaning, the city should be able to expand well life.
"This maintenance plan seems like the smart way to go," Rath said.
Kennison was in favor of the measure as well. He said there was merit in reducing costs with a flat fee which covers repairs and rehabilitation of the water wells.
"Down the road this is going to benefit everyone who will live here," Kennison said. "It's a benefit to the city. We wouldn't have to worry about them ever again."
A contract between Utility Service Group, which has locations throughout the United States, and the city allows for a 10-year deal in which USG will oversee maintenance and repairs of all five municipal wells. The city budgeted $124,000 for well maintenance for 2016, and under the agreement, the total amount for all five wells will be $120,000 annually. Repairs for both wells no. 3 and 4 are to be included, which City Administrator Phil Rath said are needed.
Rath said that over the course of 10 years, even with an adjusted inflation rate of 5 percent annually after the first four years, the agreement will cost the city roughly $1.4 million.
Issues that commonly arise with water wells include the build up of mineral deposits which cause the structure to become less effective in handling water flow over time. Every five to six years, workers have to pull the entire structure out of the ground and clean out the large deposits as best as possible.
Utilities Supervisor Mike Kennison said well no. 3 cost the city $400,000 five years ago, and the city would need to pull the well above ground within the next year at the cost of $500,000 before the situation becomes "catastrophic." With this agreement, that task now falls to USG workers with less cost to the city.
USG representative Mike Judkins said his company's water well maintenance program uses a relatively new method of cleaning the well. Rather than manually ridding the well of deposits above the surface, USG uses liquid carbon dioxide injected as a cleaning agent. Judkins said this is a "sustainable approach" to maintaining wells. Once the carbon dioxide is injected in its gaseous state, the cold substance penetrates any unwanted sediment 100 feet at a time down into the earth. This process is repeated each year.
Rath said that by having constant monitoring with annual injection cleaning, the city should be able to expand well life.
"This maintenance plan seems like the smart way to go," Rath said.
Kennison was in favor of the measure as well. He said there was merit in reducing costs with a flat fee which covers repairs and rehabilitation of the water wells.
"Down the road this is going to benefit everyone who will live here," Kennison said. "It's a benefit to the city. We wouldn't have to worry about them ever again."