FPUD awards emergency generator contract for Donnil Pump Station

NEWest Construction has been given a construction contract which will allow the addition of an emergency generator at the Fallbrook Public Utility District's (FPUD) Donnil Pump Station in De Luz.

FPUD's board voted 5-0 Jan. 23 to award the $139,900 contract to NEWest Construction contingent upon the San Diego company meeting all of FPUD's bonding, insurance, and other requirements.

"That's to put an in-place emergency generator at our principal pump station in the De Luz area," said FPUD general manager Brian Brady. "During an emergency we can cover nearly all of the De Luz area during an outage."

The Donnil Pump Station conveys water from the San Diego County Water

Authority aqueduct to the De Luz High Pressure Zone. It was built prior to FPUD's 1990 merger with the De Luz Heights Municipal Water District. Electrical upgrades, the replacement of two pumps, and the installation of an additional pump took place in 2014.

The lack of an emergency generator creates the risk of water supply deprivation and reduced flow for fire suppression in the higher-pressure zones of De Luz if electrical power is lost.

FPUD staff evaluated the reliability of the De Luz system, determined that an emergency generator at the Donnil Pump Station will improve reliability, prepared a design package for the project, and solicited bids. Five bids were received with the $139,000 NEWest Construction proposal being the lowest and Cora Constructors of Palm Desert providing the second-lowest bid at $148,000.

FPUD previously used NEWest Construction to replace the pumps and

upgrade the electrical system at the Daily Pump Station in De Luz.