Arnold needs almost half-million dollar upgrade to pump station

Arnold needs to renovate a malfunctioning sewage pump station on Riverside Drive to the tune of almost half a million dollars.

Council is asking Westmoreland County to approve its request to the state Commonwealth Financing Authority for a $479,000 grant from the Local Share program.

City Public Works foreman Joe DeMeo said the pumps in the station basically move sewage from an underground 250,000-gallon holding tank into the main line and then on to the New Kensington Sanitary Authority treatment plant.

It also was built to ensure the basement of the former Dr. Thomas School in the 1700 block of Fourth Avenue, which once served as state detention facility, would not flood.

DeMeo said that was because the school had a basement gymnasium that sat below the level of the sewage lines and the Allegheny River about two-and-a-half blocks away.

Over the years, DeMeo said the pumps have worn down to the point where the mechanism that started them automatically no longer works. As a result, he said it has to be operated manually.

In addition, he said one of the two pumps has stopped working, which leaves city officials no choice but to renovate the pump operation.