The Demopolis City Board of Education approved a change order Monday night for a project to install geothermal air conditioning units at Demopolis High School.

The change order resulted from a need to move 36 of the project’s 176 wells across the street from the school.

“We had to move the last 36 wells across the street,” Superintendent Al Griffin said. “Will there be a slight expense for us, I’m not sure. That’s to be determined. I did ask (MidSouth Geothermal) to tell us in a fair estimate what they thought it cost them and they said about $6,900. We’ve got to review the contract and look at was there room on the original set of plans for the last 36 wells.”

Geothermal heating and cooling systems take advantage of the stable temperature underground using a piping system, commonly referred to as a “loop.”   Water circulates in the loop to exchange heat between a building, the ground source heat pump, and the earth, providing heating and cooling at high efficiencies.

The project at Demopolis High School requires multiple loop fields to be dug for piping.

Griffin said at least 140 of the 176 wells needed to house the piping have already been dig by MidSouth Geothermal.

“They can only use one rig across the road, but I feel certain that by the end of next week all the wells will be dug,” Griffin said.

Griffin said all the equipment has been assembled by Hydro-Temp and waiting to be shipped.

The project is being funded through a QZAB grant the system was approved for last year.