Fountain Hills residents may have noticed in recent weeks that the town’s iconic Fountain is operating at less than full strength, and town officials report it is likely to be down for an extended period.

Town Community Relations Manager/PIO Bo Larsen said it will be early May before the Fountain can resume operations on two pumps and reach its normal height of 330 feet. The single pump reaches a height of about 100 feet.

In October, when a physical assessment of the Fountain equipment was being completed, check valves on two of the pumps failed. The assessment recommended replacement of the valves and the council approved the purchase of the parts on Oct. 13.

“The valves were ordered Oct. 21 and had an estimated lead time of 28 weeks due to a manufacturing backlog caused by COVID,” Larsen said. “Last week staff was sent an estimated delivery time frame of the last week of April. Installation should be completed in early May.”