» Winchester Bay sewer project needs some revision

To everybody who thought the Winchester Bay Sanitary District’s new sewer plant was complete: It’s not over yet.

The district board unanimously approved a $26,000 change order after the district’s manager, Ray Davenport, reported that part of the disinfection system may be undersized.

Operators at the plant are testing chlorine at about one part per million in a chemical contact basin, Davenport said. He said chlorine in that basin should be at 12 parts per million, according to an engineer’s estimate.

The district has tested the existing pumps, but may need to replace them if no defects can be found by an engineer or the manufacturer.

The pump, Davenport said, “is just not big enough.”

The pumps were put in place to run one after the other, he explained. The district intended to prolong the life expectancy of each pump by staggering their use.

At the current amount of chlorine, Davenport said, plant operators have to run both pumps just to deliver enough chemicals to wastewater at the plant.

“If this thing doesn’t work properly, we could lose our redundancy,” he said.

The plant also could fail to meet DEQ regulations.

Disinfected waste currently falls within DEQ limits that will go into place next year, he said, but the plant could be overwhelmed during a period of heavy rain if the disinfecting equipment is not fixed.

Board member Jackie Reger asked why the district should pay for the equipment before seconding a motion to approve the change order.

“We’re going to absorb all of that when the engineer did it wrong?” Hinbaugh asked.

Davenport said the district could possibly pursue some kind of reimbursement, but warned that a request would yield “finger-pointing.”

In a report prepared by Davenport, he cautioned that legal fees could cost as much as a new machine or more if the district holds the engineering firm, West Yost Associates, accountable.

If ordered, the pump equipment will take four to six weeks to arrive. Davenport’s statement also notes that the pump must be fixed or replaced before the district can sign off on final completion of the treatment plant.