Company Given Five-Year Contract Renewal To Manage Amarillo's Largest Water Well Field

Centrilift's Pump Division has signed a new five-year contract to manage a water well field providing more than a third of Amarillo's drinking water. The Carson County Well Field, managed by Centrilift since 1994, is the largest of three fields serving the city of Amarillo. The 39 water wells in the field provide the city's residents nearly a third of their drinking water, with the average well pumping 1 million gallons of water per day.

The contract covers pulling the wells, repairing or replacing equipment, and installing new equipment. When Centrilift became the prime contractor for the Carson County Well Field in 1994 it took on the task of managing and repairing an ailing collection of water pump equipment.

"In many cases, the previous suppliers had been putting back in wells the same equipment and technology that didn't work before," said Ben Montoto, manager of business development for Centrilift's Process Pump Group. "Since the wells date back to the 1950s, equipment installed through the years had very little abrasive-resistant technology.

"That's the big difference between then and now. We've installed equipment that utilizes tungsten carbide bearings and pump motors with the industry's highest insulation rating. As a result, we've provided them with longer run times."

One pump in the field had been pulled for repairs 11 times in just 10 years. Centrilift replaced the old equipment with a new Centrilift pump, which has been running non-stop since it was installed in January 1995. Overall, Centrilift installed 20 new 725-series Centrilift pumps, with 200-250 hp pump motors and a range of 600-1,000 gpm.

In addition to providing improved technology, Centrilift has used specialized subcontractors to increase responsiveness and provide comprehensive day-to-day field management services.

"Centrilift believed that better communication could solve many of the problems experienced by Amarillo in the past," said Randy Rentzel of Pump Systems Management (PSM), the firm used by Centrilift to manage the field's day-to-day operations. "By fostering improved communication with the City of Amarillo, we have resolved equipment problems and extended well run times in almost every instance."

According to Centrilift officials, the arrangement gives Amarillo the "best of both worlds." Amarillo benefits from having someone onsite that can react instantly to changing well situations. At the same time, Centrilift is able to do what it does best-provide the well equipment, engineering and heavy applications that are necessary for the enterprise to be a success.

In the beginning of the relationship Centrilift and PSM took a proactive approach to the Amarillo field's numerous problems, dedicating 2-3 full-time people to repair and replace the aging equipment. With the success of the ongoing program Carson County Well Field has now become more of a "maintenance" situation, requiring Centrilift and PSM to maintain only one full-time person to coordinate daily maintenance and monitoring.

"Everything's running as it should be," said Montoto. "As a result, the cost to the city for our managing the field has decreased every year."

Centrilift, a Baker Hughes company, provides comprehensive solutions for the municipal, mining and industrial water markets. The Claremore, Okla.-based corporation engineers and manufactures electric submersible pumps, armored cable, variable speed controllers, starting panels, telemetry systems, and high pressure horizontal pumps for a variety of applications.