By: Matt Scher, matts@977thebolt.com
Dakota City, IA – The Dakota City City Council convened for their monthly session Wednesday night.
MSA Professional Services says that Shawver Well Co., who has been working on the city’s well number four rehabilitation project, has almost completed work. According to the MSA report, the removal of material from the well did not improve its capacity. The report does state that the well does produce enough water to meet the City’s needs on an everyday basis.
MSA suggested having both wells for the city run at the same time so they are constantly in use with the intent to monitor the well for the next 6-12 months to see if the production stays at a consistent level.
Shawver installed approximately half as many perforations in the liner as the contract called for with their reasoning to maintain the structural integrity of the liner. MSA stated they did not believe the number of perforations in the liner is the reason the well capacity did not increase.
Shawver had reached out the Geological Survey staff at the University of Iowa to see if they had an explanation of the significant drop off in production from the original test pumping and decline in production since the well was put into service. The staff did not have an explanation and reportedly never seen that magnitude of a decline in a well before.
The city paid Shaver just shy of $91,000 as they will pay the final $10,000 once work is completed on the project.