If the story was published in a mystery novel, it could be called The Curious Case of the Missing Water Pumps.
For nearly two months, the Mountain View Regional Water Services Commission and a number of contractors had no idea where three water pumps destined for use in a new water line twinning project between Innisfail and Olds were.
John VanDoesburg, the commission's administrator, said the cylinder-shaped, 750-horsepower pumps that cost roughly $125,000 each were ordered from the U.S. in November and were supposed to arrive in the area at the end of March or early April.
When the pumps did not arrive at that time, the commission approached the contractor responsible for the mechanical portion of the twinning project, Alpha Construction, for information about where they were and a timeline of when they would arrive.
VanDoesburg said when the contractor looked into the missing pumps, it was told the pumps were “lost in transit.”
“The story we got, they were misplaced when transported. Is that the truth? We don't know,” said VanDoesburg.
The pumps finally turned up in Calgary in May where they were supposed to be tested, VanDoesburg said, but they could not be tested there and were ultimately returned to the manufacturer for testing.
The pumps arrived in Innisfail in June, he added, and they have since been installed.
But he said the new, twinned section of water line, which is meant to deliver water from the Anthony Henday Water Treatment Plant in Innisfail to Olds, is not yet up and running because the pumps have not yet been tested here.
In order to complete the testing, VanDoesburg said, the commission's water distribution system has to be taken offline and that's something that won't happen as long as hot and dry weather persists.
“We're not going to do that right now because we just have to keep pumping water to the municipalities as fast as we can,” he said. “We're standing there right now with a water line that's ready to operate, with the pumps ready to operate. But just because of the current water conditions, we just can't take a chance of taking the system offline for any time to test it out and divert the water into the new line.”
He added the current demand for water due to the hot and dry weather is the very reason the water delivery line was twinned in the first place.
“This is why we wanted the pumps. This is why we wanted the new line in production is exactly this weather,” he said.
The commission had wanted to have the new line in operation for early May, he said.
Despite the late arrival of the pumps delaying the activation of the second water line, VanDoesburg said the pump-related problems won't cost the commission any money since the project contract states the contractor is responsible for any costs incurred after the end of March relating to the mechanical portion of the twinning project.
Bernie Thomas, president of Alpha Construction's Calgary office, said when his company contacted the manufacturer of the pumps based in Texas, it was told the pumps “somehow got lost in shipping” but no reason for the misplacement were given.
“Never really got a good reasoning from (the supplier), quite frankly,” said Thomas, who added that his firm was only responsible for a “small portion” of the twinning project between Innisfail and Olds.
“We had the retrofit of removing the existing pumps and replacing them with the new pumps and basically tying into the line at the water treatment plant,” he said.
He also said a subcontractor, Schendel Mechanical Contracting Ltd., which is based out of Edmonton and Red Deer, was actually responsible for purchasing the pumps.
A representative of Schendel Mechanical who did not want to provide her name for publication said she was legally not allowed to discuss the matter since her company is currently dealing with the manufacturer in Texas over the issue.
“This is not us, we're a reputable company,” the representative said.
Thomas said Alpha Construction is seeking financial compensation from the manufacturer due to increased costs the company incurred because of the delay in the arrival of the pumps but he would not provide details about what steps Alpha Construction was taking to obtain that compensation.
The Mountain View Gazette's attempts to contact the manufacturer were unsuccessful as neither the commission nor the subcontractor would provide the name of the manufacturer.
