Fountain Valley well is down for third time this year

A Fountain Valley groundwater well has gone offline for the third time this year, requiring an additional $22,000 in repairs.

The well went down in October with motor failure, about three months after the well’s last emergency repair.

The latest failure again leaves Fountain Valley with two of its six wells operational. It also has a connection to the Metropolitan Water District in Garden Grove.

The well, near Warner Avenue and Newhope Street, has had a string of mechanical problems in the past few months:

• January: A drive failed, costing about $40,000 to replace. The well was restored to service in June.
• June: A few weeks after going back online, a pump failed, costing about $15,000 to fix. The well was restored to service in July.
• October: A motor failed, costing an estimated $22,000 to repair, according to a staff report prepared for the City Council meeting on Tuesday. The contractor that completed the pump repairs checked the electrical resistance and condition of the motor and found no issues at the time, the report states.

The well is expected back online this month.

When Fountain Valley was running on two wells this summer, city Public Works Director Mark Lewis said redundancies in the local water network give the city enough water capacity and that residents likely wouldn’t notice the absence of the disabled wells, though “the margin for error is just thinner.”

Three other wells are currently out of order. One is at Nieblas Park, a small neighborhood park off Heil Avenue between Bushard and Magnolia streets. It is expected to return to service by the end of November after being disabled in July by pump issues. That repair is expected to cost about $176,000.

Work also is underway at a well near Coastline Community College and one in Mile Square Regional Park. Both have been dormant for months with motor and pump problems and were scheduled for a combined $576,000 in rehabilitation this fall. They are expected to be operational by January.

All repairs are funded by ratepayer dollars.

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