GAINESVILLE—More than $144,000 in improvements and new equipment are on the table for two water reclamation facilities in Gainesville.
The first request is for an additional $50,000 for maintenance of the Flat Creek Water Reclamation Facility to fix unexpected issues that have appeared throughout the year.
"Sometimes during the year (there will be) unforeseen maintenance items that come up, and in the waste water business, it's a 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week operation. If (we) have a pump go down, (we) have to repair it immediately," said Myron Bennett, Engineering and Construction Division Manager for the Gainesville Department of Water Resources.
Bennett said at Thursday morning's Gainesville City Council work session that the department has already used about 75-percent of its maintenance budget, with most of it going toward pump replacements and rebuilds.
"We're basically asking for another 50-thousand dollars be added to our budget just to get us through the rest of the year," said Bennett.
The other item city leaders are considering is the purchase of a new pump for the Linwood Water Reclamation Facility at a cost of $94,732.35. (See picture at left.) The funding would come from the department's Capital Improvements Plan funding for FY 2016.
"Basically at our Linwood plant, we have a point where all the (water) flow comes into the plant, and a plant usually has a lot of pumping operations," said Bennett.
The new pump, a Flygt Pump from Xylem Water Solutions USA, Inc., would provide a safety net for the department, should another pump at the facility fail.
"It'll just provide a redundancy for us," said Bennett.
Council agreed to put the items on the conest agenda, where they will face a final vote next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the council's voting session.
"You've got to do what you've got to do," said Councilwoman Myrtle Figueras.
