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BACKGROUND <br /> The City has two sources of water supply: 1) water purchased from Zone 7 Water <br /> Agency and 2) City groundwater allotments (approximately 20% of total supplies). The <br /> City owns and operates three groundwater wells: Well 5, Well 6, and Well 8. Historically, <br /> the City needs two of these three wells operational during the summer months to meet <br /> customer demand. Currently, Well 8 is reserved only for emergency use due to <br /> detection of PFAS chemicals above recommended action levels. Therefore, keeping <br /> Well 5 and Well 6 operational is critical to reliably meeting customer demands during <br /> the summer. <br /> In June of 2018, the Well 5 pump was replaced due to the existing pump reaching the <br /> end of its useful life. The pump was commissioned and successfully ran through <br /> January of 2020. On January 30, 2020, Well 5 was taken out of service due to <br /> operational issues with the pump. The Utilities Division immediately performed <br /> investigations to determine the cause of the operational issues including inspection of <br /> the pump impeller and motor by the supplier and manufacturer and inspection of the <br /> well casing. Preliminary findings indicated the primary cause of the pump operational <br /> issues was failure of components within the motor. <br /> DISCUSSION <br /> Due to the criticality and time sensitivity of this issue, the Utilities Division is addressing <br /> the issue with two parallel paths. <br /> Path 1 focuses on returning Well 5 to service as soon as possible. This primarily <br /> consists of contracting with Pump Repair Service (original supplier of Well 5 pump) to <br /> repair the pump and assist the City with its installation and commissioning. Pump <br /> Repair Service has confirmed that the motor and pump can be refurbished for <br /> approximately $100,000 with a lead time of 8-10 weeks. There is not a significant cost <br /> savings in a refurbished motor, but there is a significant savings in delivery time as a <br /> new motor was estimated to be 20 weeks out. <br /> It is anticipated that the Well 5 pump can be repaired by the end of June 2020 and <br /> brought online by mid July 2020. Although staff is confident that the pump can repaired, <br /> there is concern about what caused the failure of the motor components after only one <br /> and half years of operation. To try to address this concern, the City is utilizing the <br /> services of Carollo Engineers (currently contracted to perform condition assessment of <br /> all City wells) to investigate if there was any external factors that may have led to the <br /> premature failure of the motor as opposed to the manufactured components simply <br /> being faulty. If external factors are discovered, they will need to be addressed prior to <br /> commissioning of the repaired pump. <br /> Path 2 focuses on developing contingency plans for the scenario where peak summer <br /> demands occur before Well 5 pump is repaired, installed, and commissioned. <br /> Contingency plans include the following: <br /> Page 2 of 3 <br />