Sand in the system

Sand in the system

Marion shuts down broken water filter plant

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion has shut down its water filter plant on Washington Street because it is allowing the filtering sand and gravel to get into the system.

Mayor Frank Fogleman said the problem seems to be with the filter media.

Filter media is a fine layer of material, usually sand and gravel, which is used to remove naturally occurring impurities from drinking water.

“It’s allowing that filter media to get into the system,” Fogleman said.

The plant was built in 2016 for $2.4 million and is located next to well No. 3 behind Trinity in the Fields Episcopal Church and the cell tower on Washington Street. The plant filters well No. 3 which is mostly used as a back-up water source.

Fogleman said at least one business has suffered damage to their plumbing as a result of the filter material getting into the system.

East Arkansas Youth Services, which is located next to the filter plant, told the city that they had $4,500 in damages.

“The finer the grit, the greater the risk of it getting into the system,” Fogleman said. “It will stop up the plumbing. They didn’t have any flooding. But the plumbing wasn’t working — the faucets, spigots, and commodes — that water just won’t get in. So they had some bills that they asked the city to reimburse them for.”

The water and sewer committee is recommending the city provide relief to East Arkansas Youth Services to cover the damage.

Fogleman said they have shut down the filter plant to prevent any further problems, and that the manufacturer and contractor has been out to assess the problem.

“(Water Manager) Jim (Shempert) has been doing what we can,” Fogleman said. “The manufacturer has taken a brief look and thinks he has identified where the problem is.”

Fogleman said they will have to remove all of the layers of filter material to fix the problem.

“I’ve talked to Bond Engineering to get in touch with the contractor and manufacturing company to get it done so we can have the filter plant back on line,” Fogleman said.

On a related matter, the water and sewer committee also gave Shempert the goahead to spend $16,000 on equipment which will allow them to tie a second set of water tanks which currently filter well No. 4 at K& R Park to the tanks that filter well No. 3.

“There is a different series of tanks under the same roof that filters water from well No. 4,” Fogleman said. “What Jim wants to do is tie the two sets together. That way, if he has a problem with one set of tanks from well No. 3 and he needs to shut it down, he can send water from well No. 4 to the filter tanks for well No. 4 and vice versa.

It gives him some greater management flexibility.”

By Mark Randall