Water woes continue (6/29/04)

DUNKIRK — Several repairs have been completed in recent weeks at the city water plant, but more may be in the works.

Water department superintendent Dace Mumbower told city council members Monday many of the problems, reported at the last council session, have been fixed or are in the process of being repaired.

However, he said upgrading the plant’s ozone facilities is being recommended by Peter Conner of Cleanwater Ozone, a consultant from Fort Wayne who has worked with city officials in the past.

Conner said increasing the amount of ozone being pumped into the system could help reduce the level of rusty water which Dunkirk residents have been complaining about, Mumbower said.

In a letter to Dunkirk Mayor Sam Hubbard, Conner said he visited the city water plant Thursday when crews from M.K. Betts of Anderson were making repairs to a cracked coupler in the No. 5 filter. The plant has six filters in all. Also a shut-off valve was installed to isolate filter No. 5 from the others to prevent future problems, Conner wrote.

“The six filters had not been backwashed for one week, and as a consequence, were so fouled that the pumps were operating at only 275 gallons per minute,” Conner said.

“With No. 5 isolated, backwashing the remaining filters proceeded, and after three hours of continual backwashing, the system was able to reach a maximum water flow of 595 gallons per minute,” he said.

Conner continued that additional ozone should be pumped into the city system to compensate for the higher levels of iron in the city well water than was originally anticipated when the new plant was constructed. He recommended adding several pieces of new equipment which would cost about $15,000 to have installed.

Hubbard and Councilman Dan Watson, who is an engineer, agreed to set up a meeting with Conner so his recommendations could be explained in more detail.

“I’d like some kind of assurance that this would take care of the iron (rusty water) problems,” Watson said.

Also at Monday night’s meeting, council members were told about a major problem with equipment at the city’s wastewater treatment plant. A large piece of conveyor equipment there is in need of replacement, and the estimated cost of that project was estimated at about $25,000, Councilman Larry Smith explained.

This piece of equipment is necessary for the plant to function properly, and Hubbard and other council members agreed price quotations from as many firms as possible should be sought.

In other action, council members approved the recent purchase of a new refrigerator-freezer unit for the city pool concession stand. Councilman Jim Doughty said this purchase represented an emergency since the previous unit was full of food when it failed. The new refrigerator-freezer was purchased for $704 from Ja-Mar Appliance of Portland.

In other business Monday, council members:

•Were asked by city clerk-treasurer Jane Kesler to start preparing departmental estimates for the 2005 city budget. Hubbard said he would like to have 2005 budget estimates prepared for the water and wastewater departments, too. This has not been done in the past, he said.

•Learned the mayor is trying to obtain estimates for putting siding on a wall that was exposed recently when the city demolished two dilapidated downtown structures on Main Street.

•Advised Dunkirk Junior League representative Brad Daniels to attend the July 7 city park board meeting to see if funds could be included in next year’s budget for improvements at the Junior League baseball and softball diamonds in Dunkirk City Park. Daniels had asked for a contribution of $1,300 from the city for work to upgrade the bleachers at the ball fields.

•Approved spending $1,100 for fireworks for the Independence Day holiday display which the city fire department is planning for Saturday, July 3.[[In-content Ad]]