Palmerton Area School District officials are hoping the recent purchase of a transfer pump helps alleviate water issues at Parkside Education Center following heavy rains.

Facilities Director Joe Faenza said the district bought an 8-horsepower pump that moves 375 gallons of water per minute.

“We have some water issues at Parkside (680 Fourth St.) when we get some big rainstorms,” Faenza said. “A couple of months ago we were here working and cleaning up until the wee hours of the morning.”

The pump cost $1,400 and hoses another $300, which came out of the facilities budget for anticipated costs throughout the school year.

“We found a spot where this is a plate we can take up outside of the back entrance and we can use the pump to put the water further out in the parking lot,” Faenza said. “The parking lot is pitched toward the alley out there and there are storm drains in the alley that can keep that water from circling back. I think that way we can maintain a lot of the water from coming into the building on the ground level.”

There may still be some internal weeping, Faenza said, but the pump should make controlling the water a “lot more manageable.”

“We were lucky to get the pump,” he said. “We’re still waiting on hoses because recent hurricanes throughout the country have impacted the supply chain.”

Several years ago, Director Doris Zellers said, the district couldn’t use the elevator in Parkside due to a water issue. When riding the elevator, she added, one can often hear water running.

“That is the deepest point of anything in this building,” Faenza said. “That pit goes another 6 feet down below ground level. The pump we bought and what we propose to do will help that situation, but not end that completely.”