VVWD board moves fast on repair of crucial well

By VERNON ROBISON

The Virgin Valley Water District (VVWD) has suddenly found itself in a rather urgent situation. And if a remedy isn’t found quickly, the higher usage summer months could bring water shortages to some areas of the City.

On the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 19, an electrical fault occurred at the VVWD Well #32 site on the northern end of Mesquite. The problem brought production at this crucial well down completely for a time.

In a VVWD Board meeting held on Wednesday, Mar. 3, district engineer Aaron Bunker explained that the failure was due to an electrical problem. Either the pump for the well had failed or the wiring to the pump was faulty, he said.

“Our staff went out to investigate immediately and see if we could restart it but we were unable to accomplish that,” Bunker added. “We had an electrician and then the power company (OPD5) also assisted in the investigation because it actually tripped out their substation. So it was a pretty substantial fault.”

The exact cause of the fault is still unknown, Bunker said. In order to determine the cause, the submersible pump assembly must be pulled from its deep well setting at 1,420 feet to take a look at what went wrong, he said.

Well #32 is one of only two wells that supply water to the areas of Sun City, the airport and the Vista Del Monte neighborhood. Its failure has put the district in a race against time to get it back up and running again before the peak water usage of the hot summer months set in.

“It is a little like the fuse on dynamite has been lit,” Bunker said. “We are okay right now. But in three months or so, when the heat comes on, we are not going to be. We will need that well to function to be able to supply the water needed, so that we don’t have to institute water rationing or anything of that nature.”

Ironically, Well #32 was on the district’s budget for a routine rehabilitation this fall. A total of $560,000 had been set aside to complete that rehabilitation which is scheduled one every 7-8 years. The rehabilitation process has been used to good success with other wells to restore them to original flow rates, Bunker said.

When it became clear that the pump couldn’t be restarted in-house, the district contacted hydrogeologic services company Layne Christensen to take a look at the problem and provide a quote for an emergency fix.

“They are able to respond in an expedited manner,” Bunker said. “They have done a lot of work for the district, especially on the pump side and getting things back online. They’ve done a good job for us in the past.”

The combined quote for the work came to $771,109. A new pumping assembly was just over $240,000 of that amount, Bunker said.

It was estimated that a new submersible pump motor would take 6-8 weeks to deliver. In the meantime, Layne Christensen could work on the well rehab work that was scheduled, Bunker said.

VVWD Board Member Rich Bowler emphasized that the situation merited immediate action. “I wholeheartedly agree that this is an emergency,” he said. “It needs to be moved forward immediately in an expeditious manner. So I am in favor of that.”

VVWD attorney Bo Bingham emphasized the importance of the board recognizing that special emergency situation. He explained that, though state statute left certain exemptions to entities like VVWD from the formal bid process, the district has usually engaged in that process anyway.

“It is just common sense to do that,” Bingham said. “It avoids a situation where there is steering a contract towards a particular contractor or kickbacks or anything like that.”

But Bingham said that the statute includes provisions that, in a case of emergency, allow entities that are subject to the bid requirements to proceed immediately without following the normally required bid process.

Bingham recommended that the board make a specific finding of emergency in this situation which would allow them to proceed more quickly through the process of getting this crucial pump running again.

VVWD Board Chairman Ben Davis asked Bunker if it wasn’t common practice for the district to keep replacement pumps on hand for a situation like this.

Bunker responded that the district does keep reserve pumps in stock for its largest production wells. But these pumps are all above-ground operating units.

Well #32 is a special case, he said. It is the deepest well the district has and so it requires a special waterproof submersible pump to be placed at the bottom of the well. Those types of pumps are very expensive and they are not recommended to be stored for periods of time on the shelf, Bunker said.

“It would be a lot of money to have sitting on a shelf,” Bunker said. “And especially if it was 5 or 10 years sitting there.”

Bunker also explained that the district has been working on other capital projects which would provide redundancy to make this type of situation with Well #32 less urgent. For example, the new Well #35 project had begun drilling just last week. In addition, earlier in the same meeting, the board had approved a contract for installing a new Val Vista Booster Station.

“When either of those projects are completed, it will provide the redundancy and we wouldn’t be having this emergency issue right now,” Bunker said. “But until those are completed to provide a redundant source to those upper pressure zones to the north, we do have an emergency need to get Well #32 back on line”

VVWD Board member John Burrows made a motion stating that the fault at Well #32 was an emergency situation requiring immediate action by board and staff. In addition, the motion directed staff to enter into the agreement with Layne Christiansen in an amount not to exceed $800,000.

The motion was approved with a unanimous vote of the board.