City Administrators Report
March 4th, 2019
Jet Truck
In mid-January, the pump from the jet truck was removed and sent to Spokane Pump to be rebuilt. The Seals and other components were worn, the pump was losing its pressure and could not clear the sewer mains as well. The pump was replaced in the jet truck on February 19th. That same day we had a back up in a main on California near Pizza Hut.
The crew jetted the main and during the process, the seals around the pump started to leak badly. The crew finished the jetting process and returned to the shop. City mechanic Jeff Best called Spokane Pump. After a day of calling with no answer, Spokane Pump finally called back and spoke to Jeff regarding the problem.
It seems when the seals were replaced in the pump, they were not torqued down properly thus causing the leaks. Jeff torqued the seals down and the truck was used a few more times. The pump seal still leaked but not as bad. After some more work on torqueing the seals down the pump stopped leaking and is working very well.
One of the main reasons for rebuilding the pump was to increases the pressure in order to clear the lines better. Also, we can look at buying different adapters for the jet truck that cut through roots and other attachments for cutting off service lines that protrude into the main. This will give the crew more tools to work with to keep the main clear.
Snow Plowing
After a fairly light winter, February more than made up for the first half. In the middle of the month, the crews were busy plowing snow that had accumulated to just under 30 inches in 3 days. Once all the streets were plowed the crews used the big snow blower to load the berms up and haul to the snow dump.
Plow crews put in some long days and evenings to get all the snow cleared. The State also had a hard time with their berms. They purchased a new snow blower and had not had it in full operation when the large amount of snow fell. They contacted the City crews to help with the berm pickup in the highway 2 and on California, but they were able to get the blower operational at the last minute. They did a hire local contractor the help with hauling the snow.
Since that week crews have been moving snow from along the side streets in neighborhoods to make the streets wider. They cleared snow from the parking area next to City Hall in order to have a place to dump snow as the snow dump is filled up. This will help in the future weeks if we get more snow to plow and haul.
Lift Station
For the past month, the crews at the WWTP have been having issues with the lift station at 1st and Montana. The pumps were not priming properly causing the station to fill with sewage. The system can go about 16 hours before the sewage backs up and causes problems. A red light at the station comes on when ever there is a problem.
There are two pumps at the station that alternate when the system calls for pumps to come on. If one does not work, it will cycle to the second pump to come on. The first problem came when one pump would not prime and caused the other pump to run constantly. With help from the street crew, they were able to determine that one of the connection on the old pipe had small hole in it and was sucking air causing the pump to lose prime.
Crews ordered parts to replace the old pipe and connections but with the snow and being short handed they had to put off the replacement. The operators took the system out of the alternating cycle mode so the one pump would continue to operate.
A few days later they found the red light on and the pump plugged up. Once they cleaned the pump, they notice it was full of debris/trash from the medical area. We have spoken to all these facilities in the past but will have to do so again.
Departments.
The water treatment plant finally had their new electric heater put in. This was to replace one that had quit working back in November and the operators could not find parts for it. Ron Miller ordered the new heater and installed for the operators. The new meter for Cabinet heights has been ordered. This will help the operators in determining how much water we are using in that area.
Other that the problems with the lift station the operators at the wastewater plant say that things are running well.
Jim Hammons