Battleford Town Council has approved a pre-budget request for $85,000 to replace the pumps at the 28th Street sewage lift station.
The lift station serves one third of the town, from 19th Street north and including the Alex Dillabough Centre and the arena.
In a request to council at the regular March 4 meeting, the superintendent of public works and utilities, Kevin Chaykowski, reported the two pumps have been plugging up frequently, at least once a month.
It can take up to three hours to unplug them safely, he reported. The impellors of the pumps are sharp and it's a dangerous job to unplug the units. The pumps were supposed to be non-clogging pumps, but that has not proved to be the case.
Mayor Derek Mahon said, "There comes a time when you have to replace these kinds of things."
He noted that sometimes when you walk by the site, the smell of sewage can be detected.
Mahon expected it would take several weeks to get the replacement pumps installed.
