Fountain Valley : City to Repair Wells Damaged in Quake

Three of the city’s water wells are in dire need of repair--two were damaged in the recent Northridge earthquake--to protect life and property, officials said.

“The loss of these facilities seriously limits fire-flow capacities,” said Wayne S. Osborne, director of public works.

Because of the need to quickly repair the wells, the City Council last week voted unanimously to spend about $90,000 to get the wells operating.

The council took the money from water fund reserves and waived the bidding process to speed the project and have the wells fixed within six to eight weeks. The city’s standard procedure for making such repairs includes preparing plans, gaining council approval and advertising for bids, which takes about 4 1/2 months, Osborne said.

Osborne said General Pump Co. Inc. of San Dimas will perform the repair work. The company was the lowest bidder for repairs made last year to one of the city’s seven wells, he said.

The seven wells provide the community with 75% of its water supply. The city buys the remaining 25% of its water from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

However, Osborne said the three wells that are out of operation provide 50% of the water supply pumped from the seven wells.

Osborne said the city’s existing water-flow capacities are sufficient to fight a standard fire. But if a major fire, similar to last fall’s Laguna Beach fire, developed in the city, the pumping capacity of the water facilities could not be sustained for more than 12 hours, Osborne said.

The city faces no shortage of water for domestic use.

Osborne said the city removed one well from service for repairs just before the Jan. 17 Northridge quake. He said another was damaged in the quake and left inoperable. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has reviewed the damage and will reimburse the city 75% of the cost of repairing that well.

A third well suffered electrical failure resulting from power outages during the quake, Osborne said. FEMA will also pay 75% of those repair costs, he said.