Construction of well nine of Battle Mountain's arsenic mitigation project is moving smoothly with the notice to proceed issued March 13.
The contractor is working on the rough grading of the access road and wellsite with construction of the wellhouse slated to start in early April, said Jay Fischer, a hydrologist serving as a project consultant.
Pipeline construction is underway and wellhouse controls will be installed as soon as the equipment arrives.
The wellhouse will contain the pump, motor and all other electrical and mechanical equipment necessary to operate the well, said Lander County Engineer Mark Brethauer.
Included in the project is the installation of approximately 12,800 feet of 14-inch water line, which was required to connect the new well to the existing county system.
The bid was awarded to Hunewill Construction for $1.4 million.
The well, which is located 4,500 feet northwest of wells seven and eight, has a sustained flow rate of 1,400 gallons per minute. It will serve as back-up to the other two wells, Fischer said.
The project is slated for completion in July but Fischer said he hopes the well will be operating before then to help meet peak summer demands.
Last week, surveyors were on site staking out the pipeline alignment, the roads and the wellhouse location.
NV Energy will construct the power line at an undetermined date.
The drilling of the well was completed Sept. 16. The well pumping equipment is slated to arrive in May, Fischer said.
In January, the county completed negotiations to purchase the 20-acre parcel for the site.
The application to the Bureau of Land Management to install a portion of the pipeline across public land has been approved. The new pipeline will run adjacent to the pipeline for wells seven and eight.
Water quality samples collected at the end of the pump testing show an arsenic concentration in well nine of 4.8 parts per billion (ppb). Ten ppb is the national federal limit.
The pumps for wells seven and eight experienced initial problems but have been running at full capacity since last summer to the approximately 1,900 users, Fischer said.
Number seven is pumping 650 gallons per minute and number eight is pumping 400 gallons per minute. Fischer said the difference in flow rate is because the pumps are designed to match each well's capacity.
The arsenic mitigation system was working when it went online during mid-summer 2011. A short while later, it had to be turned off for extensive flushing and testing. Then the pumps for wells seven and eight malfunctioned in 2012 and had to be replaced.
The entire project budget is just over $3 million, according to Fischer.
Contact Heather Hill at h.hill@winnemuccapublishing.net.
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