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Beeville Water Pump Problems Persist After Nearly a Year
Posted: Feb 26, 2013 4:50 PM by Andrew Ellison - aellison@kristv.com
Updated: Feb 26, 2013 6:53 PM
BEEVILLE - Nearly a year ago, the city of Beeville bought three new water pumps for $191,000. But ever since those pumps went in, the city has had nothing but problems with them.
The pumps went in last March, and three months later, pump #2 failed. It was fixed, and re-installed just one month later, only to find that now, pump #3 was having problems.
The two pumps limped along until this past December, when both of them failed. At that point, the city had to bring in a temporary pump just to keep the water supply going.
Now, nearly a year after the pumps were installed, the city, the pump manufacturer, and the installer have to figure out why these problems continue.
And engineers from all parties believe they've found the problem. It's the cans underneath the pumps. The way it works is the water flows up through the cans into the pumps. Engineers believe if they can modify those cans and improve the water flow, they can stop the pumps from failing.
Hopefully, this solution works because the clock is ticking.
According to the city, the pump manufacturer, Layne Christensen, isn't covering the pump repairs under warranty anymore.
They've started billing the city for pump repairs, claiming that the problems must be with the pump installer, Payton Construction.
But City Manager Deborah Balli says the city won't address those bills until the source of the problem is found. Because if it is the installer's fault, they would be the ones to pay for the repairs.
And with such a high price tag, the city wants what it paid for.
"You know, we paid good money for these pumps and the only thing we want is we want them to work," Balli says.
She added that the problems have not affected the water supply for residents thanks to the temporary pump.
If their current solution concerning the cans underneath the pumps pans out, all three pumps should be up and running properly in the next few weeks.
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