The Shell Rock River Watershed District sold its dredge earlier this month for $300,000 through an online selling and buying website for used equipment.

The 2010 IMS 7012 HP 51-foot Versi dredge was sold to National Fleet Services out of Knoxville, Tennesee, on Feb. 5 on a website called IronPlanet, said Watershed District Administrator Andy Henschel.

With the sale of the dredge, the district has now officially sold all of the dredging equipment it purchased in 2012.

“At the time the district bought it, it was a way of telling the DNR that we were serious about the project and moving forward with it,” Henschel said. “I think it helped push them to work with us.”

He said once the Fountain Lake dredging project was put out for bids, the bids came in cheaper by allowing companies to use their own equipment, and the district then knew it was time to put the equipment up for sale.

All money made from the sale of the equipment will go back to support the Fountain Lake dredging.

Henschel said the dredge was initially purchased for $340,000. The district also bought three pumps  for about $70,000 apiece, piping was purchased for $135,000 and a machine to fuse pipe together was purchased for $32,500.

Pumps were sold for $75,000 each, piping was sold for $55,000 and the fusion machine was sold for $22,000.