Coral Harbour (May 07/03) - The Hamlet of Coral Harbour is trying to solve problems with their pump house that have been ongoing for almost a year.

Mayor Marvin Dion said that last summer their main pump failed.

Fortunately the hamlet has a secondary pump that they could rely on for water service until the main pump was repaired.

"Luckily it was summer and it wasn't an emergency situation," said Dion.

However, current conditions have him worried that one day both pumps may go.

"The pumps and the electrical are in the same room where we mix water and chlorine. The chlorine is corroding a lot of the electrical equipment," said Dion.

The hamlet isn't sure how much fixing the problem will cost.

It will require building another room to separate the pumps and the mixing station,

Dion said they are currently arguing with the Department of Community of Government and Transportation over where the money for the project should come from.

"The CG&T told us that we had to pay from our O&M (operating and maintenance budget)," he said.

"I feel strongly that it should not come out of O&M."

Because Dion is expecting the renovations to be quite expensive he said the funds should come from CG&T's capital budget.

Speaking on Thursday he said he expected the government department to be in Coral Harbour on Monday to inspect the pumphouse.

Following the inspection, they will determine what needs to be done and at what cost to rectify the current problems.

Dion is hoping the issue will be cleared up soon.

It as already resulted in maintenance and manpower costs and further problems will push those costs even higher.

"If it were to happen that we lost both pumps we would be sucking water out of an ice hole in the lake instead of our reservoir," said Dion.

Although Dion said that could be done with little disruption to town services it would be extremely time consuming.

That would mean additional costs for manpower and equipment to fill trucks and truck water into the community.

Dion said he doesn't have a solid number outlining how much extra the problems at the pumphouse have costed, but said hamlet staff are working on a definite figure.