Newton’s main water source was struck by lightning, here’s what staff has done to fix it

WaterWorks staff are prepared to face any challenge when it comes to managing their distribution system or the many wells that surround the treatment plant on the outskirts of town. But nobody can prepare for the one in a million chance of being struck by lightning, and it was the Jordan Well that took the brunt of it.

In the early morning of Feb. 27, a bolt of lightning struck the well and damaged the city’s main water source. Jody Rhone, utilities director for the City of Newton, said there was no danger to residents as a result of the lightning strike, but there was a chance some residents noticed a drop in water pressure.

Electrical contractors worked to repair the well for a full week and the following weekend. Meanwhile, WaterWorks crews worked 24 hours a day to continue treating water from the alluvial wells, which are more shallow than the 2,256-foot Jordan Well that draws groundwater from the Jordan Aquifer.

According to a staff report sent to city council members, the electrical diagnosis kept pointing to a grounding issue. But further tests showed no grounding faults.

Four days after the incident, the 300-horsepower pump purchased no more than a year ago was extracted and replaced with a temporary 250-horsepower pump. The pump was located 500 feet below ground and was found to have a hole just above the motor wiring, likely caused by the lightning strike.

“We were really glad we had that (250-horsepower pump) as a spare all rebuilt and in good condition and everything,” Rhone said in an interview with Newton Daily News. “We pulled that off the shelf and put that in, and that’s what we’re running on now. We ran on that one for 20 years, basically.”

But when the temporary pump was finally connected to the Jordan Well’s variable frequency driver controller (VFD), it still would not run. A new VFD was needed.

This led Rhone to believe the lightning did more damage to the well than just the pump and the motor. Staff eventually connected the pump and motor to one of the high service pump controllers — which sends water to town — to make the Jordan Well run. WaterWorks did this long enough to fill the clear well.

Then staff had to switch the wiring back to the high service pump to send the water to town. Contractors ran temporary wire from the Jordan Well to a spare soft start motor controller and were able to get the well working again. WaterWorks worked 24 hours a day until water reservoirs were back to normal.

Currently, the well is pumping about 1,700 gallons per minute with the 250-horsepower pump, but it is still less than than 2,200 gallons per minute the 300-horsepower pump typically pumps. By March 8, water levels were back in normal operating range and water treatment crews returned to normal shift hours.

But there is still much to do. Rhone said WaterWorks want to reinstall a 300-horsepower pump to the Jordan Well, which was installed in 2003. WaterWorks Superintendent Todd Pierce will be working with insurance providers to get the pump back in the well and operational with all the components needed.

Rhone said staff are also trying to diagnose every individual component affected by the lightning strike before hooking everything back up to a more efficient pump. WaterWorks hopes to be finished with the repairs by summertime, which is the city’s peak demand for water.

In the report to city council members, Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler praised the WaterWorks staff for going above and beyond to make sure residents have a plentiful and safe supply of water. Those staff members “deserve our gratitude for doing a great job under pressure.”

However, Muckler also lamented the insufficient funding of capital improvements over the years has left WaterWorks with a lack of redundancy and has created challenges to providing an adequate supply of water.

“We are fortunate to have utilities director Jody Rhone leading that effort,” Muckler said. “It is clear that the city council’s appointment of Jody as our new utilities director to focus on WaterWorks and the Water Pollution Control Plant was a great decision.”

To add a redundancy measure in case the Jordan Well were to fail again, Rhone has made the purchase of a new Jordan Well a top priority in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). According to the FY24-FY28 CIP, the new well is tentatively planned for FY25. It would cost approximately $6.4 million.

In FY28, WaterWorks would also like to re-case the existing Jordan Well, which staff say will extend the life of the utility. It is estimated to cost $1.3 million. The CIP also shows four new shallow wells in FY27, estimated to cost $2.48 million; they would replace wells installed in the 1950s that are beyond their useful life.

By adding a new Jordan Well, it would obviously increase water capacity, but it also makes Newton meet compliance with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Property tax dollars would not go toward the new Jordan Well, and Rhone is already seeking grants to pay for a one-third or one-fourth the costs.

One of the grants Rhone is seeking is a $2 million loan at 2 percent interest from a federal government program. Rhone has already submitted his application for the design and engineering services, and it is currently in review with the IDNR. Rhone said engineering for a new well costs about $800,000.

When the second Jordan Well is installed, Rhone said it is yet to be determined whether it will run concurrently or alternately with the original Jordan Well.