Othello council moves ahead with well repair

Council evaluates several options

OTHELLO - The Othello City Council is going to bid for repair work on well number six after hearing a presentation Monday night.

Well number six is usually used only during peak water-use periods or emergencies due to its high fluoride levels.

It is the largest well in the city with the capacity to pump more than 3,000 gallons of water per minute.

The city considered repair options to make the well a viable, regular source of safe drinking water.

Council unanimously voted to bid for work to pull the well pump out of the ground, send a video camera down the drilled hole to see what the inside looks like, install tubing along the pump and to place the pump back into the ground. The tubing will be used to send another observatory device down to test and evaluate the well.

The city hopes to complete the initial evaluation process before high peak use.

Information obtained from the first evaluation will be used when the council decides how to fix the well.

Hydrologist Kevin Lindsey gave a presentation concerning repair options.

He said there are two known problems for well number six. Lindsey said there is a fluoride contamination issue and a commingling of aquifers issue.

He said the fluoride sources must be closed off to bring the level down to a safe level. There are two aquifers commingling near the bottom of the 1,210-foot-well, the Wanapum aquifer and the Grande Ronde aquifer, Lindsey said.

One suggestion he gave for repair would be to seal the well at 925 feet deep because it would solve the commingling issue and eliminate some sources of fluoride. Sealing it off at 925 feet would allow for the well capacity to operate at approximately 800 gallons of water per minute, similar to well number eight.

The production is lowered significantly because the largest water sources are guessed to be closer to the bottom of the well.

Another option proposed by Lindsey involves sending a "packer" to each water zone and evaluating what water is at each level and how much fluoride is at each level.

He said a packer is similar to an inflatable donut used to plug up each water source.

The information gathered would be used to decide where the most appropriate place is to seal the well off.

Lindsey said it's possible that each solution might give the same production of gallons per minute.

He said the first option is less expensive and takes at least five days to complete at a cost of approximately $4,000 per day.

Lindsey said the second option is expected to cost between $50,000 and $75,000.

He said there is a benefit if the second option is chosen because it provides more information related to where the fluoride sources are and where the aquifers are commingling. The information can be used when the city drills future wells allowing them to avoid similar situations.

After the preliminary evaluation is completed, council will choose a repair option and begin repairs in the fall.