Replace one well, might as well replace the other | News, Sports, Employment

With a leak found in the well casing, well 23 will need to be rebuilt. However, since well 22 shares a common housing structure and other equipment, the utilities department felt it would be efficient to rebuild both at the same time. Photo by Daniel Olson

NEW ULM – The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is looking to replace two wells in the city’s water system.

The PUC is looking to replace Well 23 due to damage sustained this summer, but will also replace Well 22 to take advantage of cost efficiencies.

In June, the water department detected a system failure in well 23. The well motor experienced a catastrophic failure caused by seepage of sand and gravel into the well casing. An assessment determined that the split in the well casing allowed sand and gravel to be diverted from the well screens and into the water system. Well 23 has been offline since the bug was detected.

Well 23 will need to be replaced, but due to site constraints, utility engineer Dan Pirsig said the replacement well must be in the exact location.

“We are doing what is called an excess,” he said The old casing and casing will be removed from the well and a new well will be drilled in the same location. The new well will be a little wider and a little deeper.

However, since wells 23 and 22 share a common housing structure and other equipment, the utility department felt that it would be efficient to do a workover on well 22.

Utilities Director Kris Manderfeld said Well 22 is scheduled for a full rehabilitation and it makes sense to do the overshoot reconstruction now while rebuilding Well 23. Utilities would prefer to demolish the well housing and bring in drilling equipment once, than schedule two different well reconstructions.

“When we’re done, we’ll have two new wells in the same location,” said Pirsig.

This approach will also save on additional utility costs. Manderfeld said the cost estimate for the reconstruction of well 23 alone was estimated at $900,000. Adding well 22 increased the estimate by $200,000 for a total of $1.1 million. The cost of each well casing is $200,000. Most of the expense is related to the removal of housing, piping and electrical work shared by the two wells. By drilling two wells at once, the PUC will save $700,000.

The PUC accepted an engineering proposal from Short Elliot Hendrickson (SEH) to oversee the reconstruction of Well 22 and Well 23 for $132,500. Actual construction of the wells will occur in 2025. Construction cost is estimated at $1.1 million.