Both of West Point’s water pumps, in operation since 1946, have broken down in the last five days, but water still is flowing in the city.

“We’ve got plenty of water in our tanks,” said Sammy Inman , the city’s utilities director.

A temporary trailer-mounted pump arrived from Atlanta and was in operation by Wednesday afternoon.

The trouble started Sunday when one of the pumps, at the pumping station on Third Avenue near Stateline Road, caught fire. Inman said an electrical wire shorted out on the unit, but workers were able to repair the damage and start pumping again.

Then on Tuesday, the city’s second pump failed when a shaft broke.

“It was just old and worn out,” Inman said.

The second pump, however, is going to have to be taken out and have parts replaced. Because parts for the pump no longer are made, a fabricator in Griffin is doing the work, expected to be done by early next week. He didn’t know how much the repairs would cost.

Instead of belaboring the city’s bad luck and timing with the pumps’ two major problems, Inman said, “It says a lot about the construction of those pumps they lasted this long.”

With the addition of Kia Motors and its suppliers, the city uses about 1.5 million gallons a day in water. A deal put in place before Kia ’s construction lets West Point use up to 50,000 gallons a day from LaGrange if needed.

Inman said that option has not been needed, although he’s happy to have that backup available.

“We’ve got water from LaGrange, we’re connected to Lanett (Ala.) We’re not going to run out of water,” he said.

The city got a new water plant in 2004 but that project didn’t include replacing the water pumps, which are across the road from the plant and pull water directly from the Chattahoochee River.

“I’m not sure why that wasn’t part of the project,” said Inman , who wasn’t utilities director at the time. “This does move replacing the pumps further up on the priority list of projects.”

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader @lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.