By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

VERSAILLES — Village Administrator Kyle Francis advised on surveys involving the wellfield development at the Versailles Village Council meeting.

Francis began his update by saying Shinn Bros. is pressure testing the last remaining segment of their eight-inch raw water main on Phase II of the project. Phase II includes Reed rd. There will be bacteria testing that will be conducted as soon as the pressure testing complete, and all air release manholes have been completed. Once testing is finalized, their line segment would be ready to use once Phase I is complete as well.

“Brumbaugh Construction on the Phase I segment of the Reed Rd. Water Transmission Project is down to the installation work on Industrial Parkway that, pending good weather, should take approximately a week to complete,” Francis said.

Brumbaugh would need to pressure and bacteria test the rest of the project once the last of the pipe installation work is complete. With testing, Eagon & Associates have finalized their Residential Water Well Survey for nearby properties to the wells around the new Reed Road Wellfield prior to it going into service.

“The survey radius was 1.25 miles,” Francis said. “Sixty-four private residential/farm wells were identified in the survey area with 50 property owners responding.”

Francis advised multiple attempts of contact via mail, phone calls, and personal visits were made with the 14 who did not participate in the survey with some refusing or not responding at all. The survey had found that three wells need to have their pumps lowered.

“This finding is based on a 400 gallon per minute (GPM) water withdraw rate calculation for the new Reed Road wellfield,” Francis said. “However, under normal conditions the intent is to run one new well at a time at approximately 225-250 GPM for 20 hours a day.”

Eagon & Associates will be contacting those that were identified in the study needing their pump elevations adjusted. Quinter Well Drilling will also be utilized by the village at their expense to make the necessary adjustments. All adjustments will be directed by Eagon & Associates along with all record keeping.

“Eagon will also reach out to those that have been identified to advise them of the needed work to be done,” Francis said.

He said it is possible some well pumps may need to be replaced as they start pulling well pumps, especially older ones. They sometimes break or have electrical issues occur that render the existing pump inoperable.

“There is also a chance that some wells may need to be re-drilled at our expense as well if the pump becomes lodged in the casing or there isn’t adequate well depth below the current pump elevation to drop it down,” Francis said.

Eagon was not able to get to the bottom of some of the well bores to determine the true depth, or there wasn’t accurate historical information from the original well log on fie with the State of Ohio. Francis advised Eagon informed him of the potential for well depth adjustments and/or replacements.

Francis will continue to give updates as the project continues to progress.

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