During a report to the Pagosa Springs Sanitation General Improvement District (PSSGID) board on May 6, Public Works Director Karl Johnson explained that a lightning strike caused a power surge, resulting in approximately $35,000 of damage to electrical equipment at Lift Station 2.
An agenda document for the May 6 meeting states that “some of the electrical equipment has been replaced, and a replacement pump has been ordered with a minimum of a twelve week lead time for shipment.”
The electrical damage caused the loss of two out of the three electrical legs on one of the submersible pumps at the lift station, the document states.
The lightning strike took place during an April 17 storm, Johnson explained.
“There was a strike near pump station number 2, in the field,” he said, adding that “we lost … two out of the three phases of one of the submersible pumps.”
He said, “We are only running on one train at pump station two at the moment.”
He noted that town staff have replaced most of the electrical equipment at the station, but that it would take several weeks for the pump replacement to arrive.
He also explained that along with ordering a new replacement pump, the town “went ahead” and ordered a back up pump, so that staff would have a “spare” available here.
He explained that one additional submersible pump was ordered, along with an “up top, dry pump,” but that it could take about 18 weeks for the town to receive all the equipment.
He explained that with some negotiation with the manufacturer of the damaged pump that the town was able to purchase the replacement at the original price of $80,000.
“It was pushing somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 to $130,000 per pump,” he said, but Utilities Supervisor Lucian Brewster “was able to talk them into allowing us to order them at the original purchase price, as long as we ordered the three.”
He said that buying the pumps at this price amounted to “about a $90,000 savings.”
Board member Gary Williams asked if a damaged pump is able to be “rebuilt,” with Johnson explaining that rebuilding a pump with “that much electrical damage” would cost close to the same amount as buying a new pump.
Johnson added that the town would be pulling the pump out to “decontaminate it,” saying that the town would “hang on to it, so if we ever felt like we wanted to rebuild it, we could.”
This is part of a long list of repairs and replacements of pumps since the PSSGID began pumping its wastewater, through a series of lift stations, 7 miles to the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District’s (PAWSD’s) Vista treatment plant.
Recently, the town hired financial advisor Joey McLiney to help navigate the financial costs of critical repairs to its sewage system.
Doubts about the long-term viability of PSSGID’s wastewater system arose after a town-hired consultant, Roaring Fork Engineering, conducted a comprehensive study of the district’s sewer system in 2023 listing all the necessary repairs.
Aging infrastructure and a history of failing lift station pumps required the district to spend millions of dollars to keep its current system running.
According to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between PSSGID and PAWSD, “There remains uncertainty as to the long-term viability of the [district’s] main pipeline and two pump stations.”
PSSGID’s “collection system suffers from clogging, root intrusion … and pipe deterioration, resulting in significant intrusion and inflow due to the advanced age and deferred maintenance,” the MOU states.
To tackle the first phase of these repairs, the town went for revenue bonds to pay for about $4 million in repairs of the immediate category 4 and 5 problems with the system.
The category 4 and 5 repairs are currently underway.
However, the town still faces millions of dollars of repairs beyond the category 4s and 5s, and will likely come before the town’s voters in November to ask them for a town-only sales tax increase to pay for sewer system repairs.
It has been estimated that the town’s total proposed sewer projects in the coming years will amount to about $40 million, and McLiney has stated that if the town decides to add a new downtown sewer treatment plant, this number would double.
Town staff and the board of the PSSGID have expressed that they want to avoid raising rates on its customers to pay for these system repairs.
On April 15, the town hired Slate Communications to help it guide the messaging for the sales tax election.
derek@pagosasun.com
