Waukesha uses tainted wells

Published on: 2/18/2011

Waukesha - Back-to-back failure of pumps in two wells forced city officials to reopen three radium-tainted wells earlier this month to meet customer demand, Water Utility General Manager Dan Duchniak said Friday.

Both pumps were purchased from the same manufacturer, Central Lift of Tulsa, Okla., and the city has had problems with its pumps in the past, according to Duchniak.

Well No. 10 on the city's northeast side shut down Feb. 6 when an electrical short stopped the pump's motor, Duchniak said. The well draws water from a deep sandstone aquifer, and the supply has complied with federal restrictions on radium in drinking water.

The utility spent more than $190,000 on repairing the pump more than a year ago, including replacing its motor. The well was restarted Jan. 18, 2010, Duchniak says in a letter to the state Department of Natural Resources.

Two wells with radium-tainted water were reopened Feb. 7 to substitute for well No. 10. The two wells provide water to the city's distribution system when needed, he said in an interview.

Water stopped flowing Jan. 28 from well No. 8 on the city's southwest side when an electrical short shut down a pump motor, Duchniak says in a separate letter to the DNR. The well draws water from a deep sandstone aquifer, and the supply is blended with water from other wells to comply with federal radium limits.

The well's pump was replaced under warranty last October following the failure of a motor in the older pump, he said.

"These were new pumps in both wells, and we would not have expected the problems," Duchniak said. An investigation into the failures is continuing.

To replace well No. 8, the city reopened a deep well on the city's west side on Feb. 1. The substitute well had been closed because radium levels in the water supply exceeded federal drinking water standards.

There will be slightly increased levels of radium in water flowing through mains closest to booster stations distributing water from the three reopened deep wells, Duchniak said. Radium concentrations will drop at greater distances from those booster stations as the water is diluted with the clean supply in the citywide distribution system.

There is no timetable for replacing the pumps in wells 8 and 10.

Waukesha is seeking state approval to switch to a Lake Michigan water source. The city would abandon all deep wells drawing water from the sandstone aquifer if it is able to purchase lake water.

The application must be approved by Wisconsin and each of the other seven Great lakes states, under terms of a regional Great Lakes protection compact.

The state Department of Natural Resources is waiting for Waukesha to complete its application before it starts a comprehensive review of the request.