Richland County approves emergency Reed Road lift station repairs, funds temporary water supply

The Richland County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 7 approved emergency repairs at the Reed Road lift station and authorized a temporary water supply while crews complete work, county wastewater director Amanda Miller told the board.

Miller said the lift station was in worse disrepair than initially thought and that the suction lines need complete replacement. She presented a proposal from MAC Industries to replace the lines and said the company could mobilize as soon as next week if the board approved the contract. Miller also requested authorization to secure a temporary water supply for the site, including an 800-gallon tank, from Driven Excavating LLC.

The repair contract was described to commissioners as coming from the wastewater capital fund for approximately $11,010; the temporary water supply work was listed at about $6,600. Commissioners moved and approved the requests during the meeting.

Miller additionally briefed commissioners on a related change order for the Belleville upgrade project. She said the county—s dewatering work at the Belleville site exceeded nearby conditions at an adjacent property in Johnsville: the neighbor—s well was about 10 feet deep while county dewatering reached roughly 28 feet. Because of that, the county installed a temporary tank and expects the well to recover once dewatering stops. Miller said she hoped dewatering would continue for only about another week.

During questions about material choices for the repair, staff explained that PVC was selected over ductile iron because the gases present in the lift station environment accelerate corrosion of iron piping; PVC was described as comparatively more corrosion-resistant in that setting.

The commissioners recorded their approvals and moved on to the next agenda items.