Consideration and Approval of Contract: Well and Pump Maintenance Contract Amendment
 

Approve an amendment to the contract with Empire Pump Corporation to allow an annual not to exceed amount of $950,000 for current contract year.

The City of Flagstaff, Water Services Division, Water Production Section operates water treatment and distribution facilities including well fields and booster stations.  The purpose of establishing an agreement with a qualified contractor is to provide the timely maintenance and repair of the pumps, motors, wells and other equipment associated with water production.  The work covered under this agreement is for the removal and replacement of groundwater submersible pumps, motors, column pipe, and line shaft pumps, water treatment pumps and motors, related electrical work, and any other work related to maintaining, cleaning, repairing and testing wells, pumps and motors on an as-needed basis.  The most recent Council approved contract with Empire Pump from June 2024 included a not to exceed amount of $650,000 annually.  To date in this contract year, Water Production has spent approximately $481,055.30 on previous repairs and equipment and has estimates to make additional repairs and equipment replacements of approximately $447,378.35 or $928,433.65 total: an increase of about $300,000 over the not to exceed council approved amount of $650,000.  A contract amendment increasing the annual expenditure not to exceed amount from $650,000 to $950,000 in the current contract year is necessary. 

The Water Production Section budgets approximately $650,000 annually for maintenance-related costs of groundwater wells, pumps and motors.  The additional costs to repair groundwater wells in the current contract year will be covered by reduced surface water production expenditures such as chemicals, sludge disposal and approved one-time funding approved. 

The following accounts and budgets have been identified and reallocated for this contract within the Water Service, Drinking Water Fund:
202-08-301-1011-0-4362   $185,000
202-08-301-1021-0-4229   $  45,000
202-08-301-1022-0-4229   $  70,000

Similar Well & Pump Maintenance Contracts have been used since 1992.  The last Well & Pump Maintenance contract was approved in June of 2024.  This is the first contract amendment to increase the not to exceed amount in recent history.

1.  Approve the contract amendment with Empire Pump Corporation out of Phoenix, Arizona for the purchase of Well & Pump Maintenance Services in the amount of not to exceed $950,000 (nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars) for the current contract year; or 

2.  Do not allow the contract amendment or contract with Empire Pump and require Water Production to bid all projects separately.  This option would add significant time at restoring Flagstaff's potable water supplies. 

     In years surface water is available, such as in 2020, surface water production can make up as much as 1 billion gallons annually and represent as much as 38% of total annual potable water produced. Historic average annual surface water production since 1949 is about 749MG and about 36% of total annual potable water produced. In years there is little surface water availability such as 2007, surface water production may be as little as 96MG or only about 5% of total annual potable water produced. In 2024 about 972MG surface water was treated and produced representing about 36% of total production. In 2025 about 391MG surface water was treated and produced representing about 15% of total production. In 2026 only about 150MG is targeted for surface water production representing only about 5% of total water produced. In 2026 over 90% of potable water supplied to the City of Flagstaff will come from groundwater wells.

     In 2025 Water Production's two largest groundwater wells, Tuthill Well and Shop Well, stopped running.  The cost to re-equip the submersible equipment (pump, motors, seal and cable) of Tuthill Well was $358,551,59.  The previous equipment was from May of 2015 and had been in near continuous operation since then and produced about 4.5 billion gallons over its lifespan (the equivalent volume of Upper Lake Mary when nearly full).  Tuthill Well is the city's largest groundwater well with a maximum flowrate of 1150 gallons per minute (gpm) or about 1.66 million gallons per day (mgd).  At the Shop Well the Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) which controls and delivers power to the submersible equipment was the culprit of the well's demise.  The VFD had been in near continuous operation since 2012 and produced about 2.5 billion gallons in that time.  The cost of the replacement VFD at the Shop Well was $117,044.89 with a lead time to manufacture of about 4 months; but was fortunately purchased ahead of time in 2024 (FY25) and held on the shelf until it was needed in 2025. This replacement VFD will be the third in the groundwater wells history since 2003, and now identical to the one used at the Tuthill Well for standardization and resiliency.  Costs to install the VFD at Shop Well in FY26 were about $8k.  In 2025 The Raw Water Pump Station (RWPS) Groundwater Booster Pump #3 was rehabilitated and overhauled for $27,762.95.  Without the groundwater pumps at the RWPS none of the groundwater from the Lake Mary Wellfield would reach the City of Flagstaff.  The Lake Mary Wellfield represents about 3mgd in groundwater capacity.  In early 2026, Woody Mtn. Well #7, the cities 5th largest groundwater well, also stopped running with a cost to rehabilitate and re-equip of about $189,363.50.  The previous submersible equipment was from April 2009 and produced nearly 2.3 billion gallons in that time.  Due to lead times for equipment replacement experienced in the past the Water Production Section attempts to carry spare equipment for its largest groundwater wells so when the equipment is needed it is available immediately which was the case for all of the above groundwater well related repairs including, Tuthill Well, Shop Well, and Woody Mtn. Well #7.  Thanks to keeping an inventory of spare equipment and a contract with a qualified contractor such as Empire Pump, Flagstaff largest potable water sources are typically never in disrepair for very long.  

     In the spring of 2026 Woody Mtn. Well #1 stopped running with submersible equipment from 2001. The cost to re-equip and rehabilitate the well is estimated at $175,258.90.  In the spring of 2026 Lake Mary Well #2 also stopped running with submersible equipment from 2008.  The cost to re-equip and rehabilitate the well is estimated at $166,922.50.  The Water Production Section is attempting to repair the above wells by the end of June (in FY26 and the current Empire Pump contract year) and before peak potable water consumption times for the City of Flagstaff.  Greater reliance on groundwater wells results in greater costs to maintain them.  And sometimes things just like to break all at the same time.

     
On April 9, 2024, the Purchasing Section posted and Invitation for Bids on the Planet Bids website and advertised the solicitation in the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper. There were five (5) bids that were received for the Utilities Well and Pump Maintenance solicitation with Empire Pump Corp. deemed the lowest responsible and responsive bidder. The initial Contract is for two (2) years with the option to renew for three (3) additional one (1) year periods upon mutual agreement of the City and Empire Pump Corp.

1.  Safe & Health Community

2.  Sustainable and Innovative Infrastructure:  Deliver outstanding services to residents through a healthy, well-maintained infrastructure system.

Policy WR.2.2:  Maintain and develop facilities to provide reliable, safe, and cost-effective water, wastewater, and reclaimed water services.

1.  CR-1:  Strengthen existing community systems to create resilience to both short-term shocks and long-term change.

2.  WS-1:  Improve water infrastructure and expand water reuse.

1.  Objective 5:  Accelerate Infrastructure Maintenance and Replacement

2.  Objective 6:  Ensure Adequate Water Resources and Plan for Climate Change

3.  Objective 7:  Maintain Excellent Water Quality