They have a pump on order and hope to see it installed in 3 weeks …

That was the good news from the City Water Plant this morning, after the Thief River Falls City Council declared a State of Emergency, with the failure of a vital City Lift Station eminent.

Water Superintendent, Wayne Johnson, says the city has had problems with the German made pumps in Lift Station #9 – at the intersection of Greenwood and Oakland Park Road – since they were installed in 2009. He says the company has not stood behind their warranty for the pumps, the final intake before sewage is discharged into the waste-water ponds west of town. Johnson says, if the station fails entirely, there is no back-up or by-pass, and the city would be forced to discharge raw sewage directly into the Red Lake River.

Declaring a State of Emergency allows the city to expedite the bidding process, ordering a $49,000 Flyght Pump through the Electric Pump Company in New Prague, who are sending the unit – which they located in Atlanta – to Milwaukee, to be fitted with the right piping – a process that should be complete within 3 weeks.

The additional cost of installing the pump should be right around $16,000. The regular bidding process may have been cheaper, but would have delayed repairs for more than 3 months – Johnson said today that is time they just did not have.