Libby's water treatment plant without backup power during generator repair

Libby’s water treatment plant is without backup power while its generator’s leaky radiator is being repaired. Meanwhile, if the plant loses power, City Administrator Jim Hammons said the plant can only provide treated water “for a short period of time” before the city “will (be) forced to a (resort to) a boil order.”

Hammon noted the situation in his report at Wednesday night’s City Council meeting. He wrote that the radiator that cools the motor running a backup generator at Libby’s water treatment plant was sent to Missoula for repairs June 29 after the discovery of leaks.

The leaks came to light after a power bump on June 26.

“The generator started up an ran like it is designed to do,” Hammons wrote.

A plant operator then “reset the system and everything seemed fine ... (until) the next morning during the regular scheduled test for the generator, it ran for a short time and stopped.”

Operators examining the generator found a coolant leak caused by a blown seal and other problems in its radiator. They brought the radiator first to Montana Machine and Fabrication in Libby, and when that shop couldn’t repair it the radiator was brought to a repair shop in Missoula.

Hammons said via email Thursday morning that “we hope the generator will be repaired and operational sometime early next week.”