A back-up pump is on order for the Marwell lift station at a cost of a $100,000.

City council officially approved the amendment to the city budget at its meeting Monday.

The sole-source purchase was previously approved before the budget amendment by city manager Linda Rapp as an emergency requirement, says the administrative report to council.

The report explains the city manager is authorized to approve sole-source purchases of up to $100,000 in the event of a bona fide emergency.

Delivery of the pump will take 16 to 18 weeks, the report points out.

The budget amendment received unanimous support by members of council Monday.

The Marwell lift station receives wastewater – from toilets, kitchens, showers – from all serviced areas south of Porter Creek and Whistle Bend.

The lift station pumps the material 7.5 kilometres to the sewage lagoons across the Yukon River.

The report to council said the two primary pumps required emergency maintenance earlier this year because of naturally occurring sand and silt in the system, despite being only in year six of their 15-year operational expectancy.

There are two diesel back-up pumps in case of power outages, though their reliability is curtailed by the chance of overheating if they’re run too long, the report explains.

Geoff Quinsey, the city’s manager of waste and water, explained to council last week it was recommended the city approve the purchase of a primary back-up pump this year, and consider the purchase of a second primary back-up pump next year.

Having two primary back-up pumps would help avoid the environmental risk of a full pump failure, he said.

Quinsey said there is a sand and grit separator at the lift station, and steps are already being taken to try to increase its efficiency.

Sand and grit, he explained, are a given in all wastewater treatment systems. Silt in the air, for instance, gets flushed down our toilets everyday.

City records show that in 2018, the Marwell lift station pumped approximately 8.5 million litres of wastewater daily, or 10 times the amount of water in the large pool at the Canada Games Centre.

Coun. Dan Boyd told his council colleagues during committee of the whole discussions last week that he didn’t have a problem with approving the purchase.

But he does not agree that it should have been classified as a bona fide emergency, he said.

Boyd said he realizes there is a long lead time for delivery of the back-up pump, though he noted only one of the two primary pumps is working at a time, and then there are the two back-up diesels.

“I want to go on the record as saying I do not agree this is a bona fide emergency,” he said.

Boyd said the decision to go ahead with the $100,000 purchase should have come before council before it was made – particularly as council is currently reviewing its procurement policy and looking at the definition of emergency.