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Columbus issued an alert for the implementation of stage one drought contingency plan conditions following an equipment failure that forced a water treatment plant offline, Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Stage One requests residents and business owners to voluntarily reduce water usage. Outdoor watering should be limited to before 9 a.m. and after 6 p.m. Vehicle washing should be limited to one day per week. Aesthetic water features like swimming pools decorative fountains should have reduced refilling unless the water is recirculated. In general, the plan requests for residents to take shorter showers, fix all leaks and run dishwashers and clothes washers with only full loads.
“If we can avoid those and limit those during this temporary period, it would help conserve water and take a load off of the existing water facilities,” City Manager Donald Warschak said.
This Stage One was triggered by ongoing dry weather conditions and the unexpected failure of a booster pump at one of the three water treatment plants. According to Warschak, each plant has two booster pumps, but the other booster pump at this plant was already out of service and waiting for a replacement. There is no compromise to water quality or safety.
“The single pump that we were operating on had a fail yesterday,” Warschak said on Sept. 18. “That failure eliminated the ability to flow water from that plant. Currently, we are working on getting the pump repaired and also looking at getting a temporary pump to put that plant back in service as soon as possible.”
Warschak later reviewed the situation at the Columbus City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 22. He confirmed that the city installed a temporary pump. The pump that unexpectedly failed was only four months old, so the pump company picked it up for repairs. Warschak estimated for the repairs and reinstallation to be completed in around a week.
“We're still maintaining water levels with our temporary pump that we have in there,” Warschak said.
Warschak also noted that the replacement pump for the pump already out of service was already ordered and will be delivered in around four weeks. He noted that the pumps typically have a “crazy” total delivery time of between 14-18 weeks. After the new and repaired pumps are installed, the city will still have the temporary pump on standby.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since its initial posting on Friday, Sept. 19.
