The water level at Town Pond remains low, to the consternation of East Hampton Village officials. The new pump installed in early January is right now unable to pump properly, David Collins, superintendent of public works, told the village board at its meeting on Friday.
Somehow, air is getting into the pump, preventing it from “holding the prime,” he said.
“We’ve re-piped our work to eliminate any air leaks, we haven’t found any,” Mr. Collins told the board. Describing a “three-inch pipe that goes into a 10 or 12-inch casing,” he said it was “possible that tube has a leak in it. “
That could be the reason why the pump got damaged in the first place, he said. “Not being able to hold the prime could be the root cause of what we’ve been dealing with.”
The pond is also losing water, and Mayor Jerry Larsen asked why. Because of seepage through the bulkhead, Mr. Collins replied. When the plastic bulkhead was installed 15 or 20 years ago, he said, it was with a water jet, instead of being directly driven. Sand got into the sheathing, which “created a wick all the way around it.”
“Given that the sheathing boards are plastic, tongue-and-groove, they don’t swell up like traditional wood bulkhead,” he explained, and so there is no solid seal on the bulkhead. “Water is leaking out horizontally, through the tongue-and-groove.”
The muck that was pumped out of the pond “did serve to seal the original sand, but we’ve exposed it now,” said Mr. Collins. “Until we get things tightened up with muck or sediment, it’s going to take time.”
Mr. Larsen recalled that the pond was originally drained because it was “so polluted . . . this was something that needed to be done to help the water quality in Hook Pond, as well as the water in Town Pond.”
“How quickly do you think you’ll be able to resolve this issue?” asked Rose Brown, a board member. “Because the pond is very low right now.”
Mr. Collins had no clear answer. The village is securing the services of a well driller and getting him “approved to do the work,” he said. Until the source of the mystery leak is found, the new pump will not work properly, and, with the bulkhead losing its seal, water will keep seeping out.
