Meta aldermen at a special meeting last Wednesday signed a contract for a new chlorination system for a lump-sum cost of $39,855 in an agreement with BW Field Services LLC, of Topeka, Kan. Bartlett & West is handling all aspects of the project, and will monitor the situation for the first 30 days upon installation of the system.
Bartlett & West Engineer Gary Davis said the lump sum includes everything from the bilateral compliance agreement with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) through the 30 days of assistance once the project is completed. Nothing has been billed at this time but Davis said there won’t be any billing beyond the items listed in the agreement.
Meta was required to hand-chlorinate within 30 days and install a chlorination system in the well house within 60 days of Dec. 10, the day after the meeting at which aldermen agreed to proceed.
City officials were notified in October that Meta will have to permanently chlorinate the water system, and checking of levels will be required.
Testing of Meta’s water system was not done near the end of December following the board’s decision to move forward with the plan approved at the Dec. 9 meeting.
“We put chlorine in the tank,” said Chief Water Operator Harold Libbert.
“We were supposed to start testing from that day forward,” said Alderman Otto Wankum.
“No one told me that,” Libbert replied.
“We said that at the last meeting,” Wankum said.
Davis agreed. “It needed to be checked every weekday,” he said. “They want to make sure it stays above point-five and below four.”
A serious leak complicated the matter, with hundreds of gallons of water lost.
“We had a hell of a leak,” said Wankum. “It was a mess. There’s no other way to say it.”
City Clerk Deidra Buechter said the day the tank was chlorinated, Davis sent supplies but LIbbert did not test the chlorine levels.
She added that she assumed that Libbert would use testing supplies from St. Thomas because he assured aldermen at the last meeting that he had plenty of material and the option to use it when needed.
Davis said he would be concerned about not reporting what occurred. “Part of the agreement was to have this tested,” he added.
Alderman Lawrence Hoffman told Davis the city is at a standstill because the contract with Libbert as chief water operator was assumed to have ended Dec. 31, and no one bid on the position.
“We don’t have a water operator,” said Hoffman.
“The damage is done from what we haven’t tested but from here on out, we need to get somebody to start testing it every weekday,” said Alderman Ivie Helton, asking Buechter if she is willing to perform that function.
As a city employee qualified to take the samples, Buechter was nominated for the position by Helton, with fellow aldermen in agreement.
Bartlett & West engineers agreed that if the first test indicated the levels were below .5, it was best to have Maguire Iron make another chlorine drop and inform DNR of the leak.
Hand-chlorination was done by Maguire Iron, which has worked on the city’s tower for several years. Testing will be conducted to maintain levels approved by DNR, with chlorine to be added until the automatic system is installed for the 100,000-gallon tower.
Davis noted that technically, the city had a zero level due to the leak. “The water came right back out with the chlorine,” he added. “You have 30 days.”
“So the best-case scenario is that if the testing is done and we’re good, we can have Maguire Iron come back and we’d be okay,” said Helton.
Maguire Iron indicated the earliest response time would be the week of Dec. 10, and it was noted by engineers that if the test was bad, something would have to be done before then, along with a letter to DNR explaining the leak and alternative plan to come into compliance.
Wankum said photos were taken of people in holes trying to identify the source of the leak, which should bolster the city’s case.
Aldermen also approved the filing of an emergency exception request with DNR and authorized Libbert to sign the document. This agreement specifies that the city will utilize an emergency chemical feed system at the existing well house to add liquid sodium hypochlorite to the raw well water. The emergency project includes the installation of a 30-gallon solution tank, associated piping to the injection point, a new corporation stop injection tube, and a new raw-water sample tap. The new peristaltic chemical feed pump will be able to feed approximately .17-17 gallons per day of solution into the well house piping. This project is to be in compliance by Feb. 7.