The discovery of a used motor core in Arizona will speed up the repairs for a broken Keei well.
The discovery of a used motor core in Arizona will speed up the repairs for a broken Keei well.
Department of Water Supply spokeswoman Kanani Aton said Wednesday the county’s contractor ordered the motor core, which will be refurbished on the mainland and delivered to Hawaii by air freight. The well should be repaired and running again by the end of June, cutting down the anticipated repair time from nine months to three months.
The department awarded Derrick’s Drilling the $166,000 contract.
The department gave Derrick’s Drilling a notice to proceed April 4.
The 1,000-gallon Well D, along with backup wells A and C, serves about 3,575 customers through about 1,300 service connections, Aton said. The wells also provide water to the Hookena water spigot.
A West Hawaii resident at a Tuesday evening Kona Town Meeting questioned County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong about the initial nine-month repair time frame DWS officials said they anticipated. How difficult could it be, the person ask, to replace a motor core. How unique, he added, was that particularly well and was it a good county policy to have such uniquely configured wells.
Aton, who attended the meeting, addressed some of those concerns on Wednesday.
“Every well is unique in its construction, for example, elevation, well casing material, water levels, inside diameter of the well, the water quality, its capacity, recharge,” she said. “Pump motor systems are engineered to suit these characteristics.”
Hawaii does not have a repair facility for most submersible deep well repairs, she said. That means most major repairs end up being done by mainland manufacturers.
Water supply officials discovered the broken motor March 29.