City hopes to restore water to east Kamloops properties before end of day Tuesday

“Breaks happen in new pipes and old pipes… Like I say, this is not the first time they’ve had to respond to a main line break like this. This, unfortunately, is the first time where we didn’t get a big enough shutdown period to respond before residents started to notice.”

Luison cautioned it will take a while before the water system – which serves approximately 7,500 homes and a few hundred businesses – is back to normal operation.

“We’re going to be having some messaging going out for residents to understand that to recharge the system, we’ll have some boil water and do not consume orders,” Luison said.

“They’ll be going out via Voyent Alert.”

Three Days of Woes

It’s been a frantic three days for thousands of people east of Rose Hill Road in the neighbourhoods of Barnhartvale, Campbell Creek, Dallas, Juniper Ridge, Rose Hill and Valleyview. It began as a water main valve failure on Sunday before it escalated into a leak and then a water main break.

“We were able to locate the leak but unfortunately the repairs to the leak is taking longer than that timeframe,” Luison said, noting the work has to take place approximately 12 feet underground.

“When we fixed the valve, we noticed a leak had begun on the main line that fed out. They were items that occurred at roughly the same time [but] we had to fix one before we could address the other and the valve was more important.”

The ‘do not use’ order was issued early Tuesday morning and Luison said it was to ensure there was enough water for essential purposes like firefighting. He added the city tried to complete repairs without ordering residents to turn off their taps, but reservoir levels dropped faster than expected.

“I won’t say we wouldn’t be in this situation, but we would have had more time,” Luison noted.

“Any time we put out a ‘do not use’ order, we’re doing it to extend the timeframe we can do the repairs. Unfortunately, we did have a situation where we were able to knock on doors and shut some things off, but we did have people not following that rule. That shortened the time frame for us.”

Repair work is taking place at the intersection of River Street and 14th Avenue near the Kamloops Centre for Water Quality, where there will be a single lane of alternating traffic until further notice.

“I was a little surprised, but I wasn’t too stressed out or anything,” Avery Warner told CFJC Today at Juniper Park. “It’s like the little things in life that you realize, ‘Wow, you really need water for that.’ We came out to fill up our jugs for our families.”

“I didn’t even really realize until I got to school and there was hardly anybody there,” added Avi Jones. “Everybody was like, ‘School’s cancelled, school’s cancelled’ and I was like, ‘What the heck? Why?’ I wasn’t even aware of it until the school sent us an email.”

Six Kamloops schools in the neighbourhoods of Valleyview, Juniper Ridge, Dallas and Barnhartvale were closed Tuesday, and it remains to be seen if classes will resume Wednesday.

“At this time, the East Kamloops school closures are for today only,” the Kamloops-Thompson School District said in a statement. “We will communicate with families and follow up if anything changes as more information is available from the City of Kamloops on the timeline of the water restrictions.”

Water Distribution to End Soon

On Tuesday, the city made non-potable water available at six locations – the BC Wildlife Park, Valleyview Arena, Juniper Park, Dallas Park, Todd Hill Park and Rose Hill Park so people couls access water to bathe and flush toilets. Emergency Social Services volunteers were also handing out bottled water to residents, but those distribution efforts may be scaled back once repairs are completed.

“People do have the ability to use their washrooms and bathe, it just has to be with the water that is being trucked out,” Luison said. “Once we turn the water on, that is not going to be required anymore.”

“There wasn’t enough warning for people to stock up on drinking water, but that is what we are allowing people to do. People who end up in the boil water advisory will be able to boil their drinking water, but the ones who get the do not consume, we’re advising them to stock up on water to consume.”

Once water flows again, Luison said people will still be told to conserve until health officials give the ‘all clear.’

“The messaging we put out, we’re not putting out just for knowledge. We’re asking you to follow it,” Luison pleaded. “Our goal is get your water back on as quick as we can, so please help us do that.”

– With files from Jeremy Russo/CFJC Today

by Victor Kaisar

City hopes to restore water to east Kamloops properties before end of day Tuesday

Three Days of Woes

Water Distribution to End Soon

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