Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet Repairs, Replaces Sewer Pumps

It cost the City of Emmet $7,200 to repair and replace sewer damaged and defective sewer pumps.

Emmet Mayor Dale Booker told the Emmet City Council, during its regular monthly meeting Wednesday, Oct. 11, it cost $2,700 to have one of the two pumps repaired, but the other couldn't be fixed.

Because of this, the city had to pay $4,000 for a new pump, then another $500 for the labor, installation and wiring required.

The pumps, he reminded the panel, had been going out for several months. Because cities are primarily the only entities using this type of pump, there was little difference to be found in prices, though Booker did shop around for a bargain.

The council appropriated the funds for having the sewer pumps repaired and replaced.

The city's new well has been drilled and, by and large, is complete.

Its pump, a 30 horsepower, three-phase, 220 volt job, will produce 220 gallons per minute. It was tested over a 40 hour period, pumping 300 gallons a minute holding the headwater and capacity check with no problem.

Booker said the foundation and block building are in place for the pump, but the building needs a roof and the chlorination equipment added, along with the electrical equipment being installed before the project will be completed.

The city's part will include fencing around the pump house and gravel inside the fence.

The new well, he said, should be ready to put on line in two or three weeks.

Should there be an emergency in the interim, he said, the well could be used with the city's generator and be operational within an hour.

The two wells will be used on an alternating system as needed to relieve stress on the current well.

Emmet's well No. 1 is rated at 125 gallons per minute, and the city will examine it in 2001 for possible upgrading to handle a greater pumping capacity.

The Arkansas Department of Health, Booker said, suggests Emmet keep the current well on line and not take it completely out of service.

The ADH, he said, has been following this project closely and is satisfied with the work the contractors have done to date.

During the testing of the new well, Booker told the council, the water level was taken at the existing well to see how it would be affected by the second well.

Once the pump was started, there was no change, and, he said, the level was actually higher on the second day toward the end of the test.

Both wells, he reminded the panel, are pumping from the same body of water.

"There shouldn't be a problem with draw down when the new well is on line," he said. "The well is 350 plus feet deep with the pump being 212 feet deep."

The pump will discharge water into a four-inch line connected into the city's eight-inch main.

Emmet has been granted a 5-year permit to operate its sewage disposal system, Booker said. Now the city can make plans to repair the levees at the sewer pond next year.

In the past, Emmet's sewage disposal permit has been on a seasonal basis, thus preventing the city from doing any long-range planning.

However, he said, the city will have to monitor the levels of the creeks and make sure to pump the sewage accordingly.

It will have to be more strict with its pumping during the summer months when the water levels are at their lowest.

The final order of business for the council was to pass the annual millage ordinances.

As Emmet is in both Hempstead and Nevada counties, it must pass two ordinances to maintain these taxes.

The 5 mill tax is simply a tax being rolled over, not a new tax.

Both were approved by the panel.