There were a lot of unknowns Monday when Sheriff Brian Bellendir told the Barton County Commission about a major plumbing problem discovered at the jail over the past weekend. By Wednesday morning, Sheriff Brian Bellendir said they were “85% back to normal operations and hope to finish today.”
The lockdown at the jail was lifted.
The water issues were discovered Saturday. A tank in one of two water softeners installed three weeks earlier had ruptured, forcing 200-300 pounds of gravel and resin into the waterlines before the damage was discovered.
“They got it cleared out,” he said Wednesday.
Bellendir knows a bit about plumbing. Years ago, as “a poor, broke deputy sheriff,” he spent five years working with a plumber as a side job. But as a team of plumbers worked on the jail throughout Saturday and again on Monday, the sheriff met with commissioners and asked how to proceed.
“It’s one of those things they don’t cover in sheriff’s school,” he said.
County counselor Patrick Hoffman has been informed and there might be legal action later.
“Ultimately the manufacturer is going to be liable in the end,” Bellendir predicted. He doesn’t think the problem was caused by human error during installation. Either way, he is documenting everything as repairs continue.
Stueder Contractors did the installation and he praised the local contractor for its response. Every available plumber was assigned to the project.
“I do have to give them credit,” Bellendir said. Without the contractor’s concentrated response, the problem would not have been resolved as quickly.
Bellendir had prepared for the worst-case-scenario, initially telling the commissioners, “This is going to get expensive.”
There will be some cost the county is responsible for, Bellendir said. Some pipe chases and valves have normal deterioration in the 21-year-old jail.
On Monday, there were questions about how to handle the bills and whether they needed the services of an engineer.
“We can talk about that later,” Commission Chairman Duane Reif said. “Do what you’ve got to do.”
Commissioner Shawn Hutchinson added, “Keep going and we’ll figure out liability later.”
On the positive side, the sheriff said the hot water, which operates on a tankless system, did not appear to be affected and there were no problems with the fire system.
