Stagnant pool pumped in enforcement of new ordinance

 Wednesday afternoon Harrisburg firefighters and city code enforcement officer Kelly Hefner pumped stagnant water from a pool at 8 Valley Forge.

The project was the first in which the city has had to take action under the new stagnant pool ordinance.

"This is our worst case deal. The owner never responded to any attempt we made to contact him," Hefner said.

He said the owner, believed to be Elijah Hopkins, has moved out of town and the city has been unable to contact him by phone or by letter. The property is slated for auction, Hefner said.

Hefner has been treating the pool for mosquitoes and was following recommendations to remedy the pool from the Egyptian Health Department.

Hopkins will be billed for the man hours required to pump the pool, Fire Chief Bill Summers said.

The crew began the work with a new siphon jet intended to be used for pumping water from creeks or ponds in fighting a rural fire. The jet moves water at a rate of 600 to 1,000 gallons a minute, Summers said. If the siphon jet had worked as intended Summers predicted the 35,000 to 40,000 gallons of green water in the pool could be pumped out in half an hour to 45 minutes.

The siphon jet worked well for a while, but as the pool level lowered so did the pump pressure and the crew switched to a manual pump to complete the work.

Hefner said there are currently no other pools in the city slated for the procedure.

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