Water flowing to east Kamloops neighbourhoods as city continues to urge essential use only

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“Since there was physically a hole in the pipe, we put a band clamp on it, so basically it just wraps around the pipe,” Joe Luison, the city’s assistant civic operations director, said at Wednesday morning media briefing. “They work, but in this case, it’s not holding because of the pipe size and the pressure. ”

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“What we prefer to do is cut out a section of pipe so it eliminates that hole completely and then we put in a trunk PVC pipe and two different style clamps on either end.”

Luison said the city will use a specially ordered part to replace the section of the 500-millimetre pipe that broke impacting some 7,500 homes and 200 businesses east of Rose Hill Road.

“We’re basically just cutting out a section this time and ensuring that we have different products that will now be holding it together,” Luison added.

In a Wednesday afternoon briefing, the city said permanent repairs are expected to be carried out on Thursday, during which time there will be another water outage so crews can carry out the work.

Valleyview A Ghost Town

The Trans-Canada Highway Frontage Road in Valleyview was largely a ghost town Wednesday morning along as the majority of businesses were forced to close. Others, like Papa Murphy’s Pizza, were able to pivot and operate out of a food truck, while still feeling the impacts.

“If we’re not able to get water back by tomorrow, we will have lots of food wastage,” owner Manmeet Sra told CFJC Today. “We’ll see how we do today with the food truck, but I feel bad for the restaurant owners who don’t have a Plan B.”

The East Kamloops Business Improvement Association (EKBIA) has fielded numerous calls from the businesses it represents in Valleyview, Dallas and Campbell Creek since the issues began over the weekend.

“There is a lot of uncertainty over what can we do, what can’t we do,” Executive Director Clare Warner said. “We’ve been doing our utmost to get them the updates as soon as they come in from the city and support them if they do have to close.”

(Image Credit: Kent Simmonds/CFJC Today)

Restrictions to Remain

The easing of restrictions in east Kamloops allows people to use water for essential purposes like showers, household cleaning and to flush toilets. Water is not to be used for drinking, brushing teeth, to wash, prepare and cook food, or to be given to pets.

Residents are told to check Voyent Alert and the city’s website to learn if they’re under a boil water advisory or a do not consume order.

Potable water will be available at Valleyview Arena, the BC Wildlife Park, the Dallas fire station and at Dallas Park around the clock until 11:59 p.m. Friday (May 15). Starting Saturday, potable water will be available at Valleyview Arena and Dallas Fire Station between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for about five days.

People are limited to 100 litres per visit and they’re required to bring their own containers, the city said.

“If the truck isn’t there when you went by, it’s possible the truck had left to refill,” Quinn Hatch, communications supervisor with the City of Kamloops told CFJC via email. “We have security or CSOs on site to inform people who may show up and the truck isn’t there.”

“We are in the process of having signage made to the same effect.”

Messaging Could Be Better: Residents

Some residents who spoke to CFJC Today outside Valleyview Arena feel messaging from the city about the overall situation could have been a bit better.

“It’s been terrible. Really terrible,” Valleyview resident Keith Ellis said of the whole ordeal. “Kamloops needs to have an emergency back-up system.”

“I heard from other people that you have to go and get water,” he added. “I got a phone call from Interior Health who asked if I needed any help. They gave me all the information I needed.”

Rose Hill resident Tom Dickinson said it was hard to figure out at first whether his property was subject to the ‘do not use’ water orders.

“We didn’t get the notification on our phones until later in the evening Tuesday,” Dickinson said. “It was a little delayed that way.”

“It is a minor inconvenience compared with many things that you’d have to experience,” he added. “I think it’s also pointing out how good our services really are, and when they disappear, you really get to appreciate them a lot more.”

Potable water being loaded into Keith Ellis’s truck outside Valleyview Arena on May 13, 2026. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds/CFJC Today)

As he prepared to open his food truck Wednesday, Sra said he appreciates the efforts of city crews who are “putting in a lot of hard work” to restore water as quickly as possible.

“It’s easy to blame somebody right now,” Sra added. “The only thing we can do as a community is work together and support each other. That’s the best thing we can do right now.”

Warner added the city can only do so much through Voyent Alert and its other notification systems, noting the EKBIA is doing its own outreach to try and get the word out to its members.

“There are gaps, of course, with something as big as a crisis as this is, but we are staying on top of this and doing our best to get the word out as soon as we can,” Warner said.

Conservation Remains Key

Work done by city crews at the site of the break at River Street and 14th Avenue near the Kamloops Centre for Water Quality, enabled five of six schools that were closed Tuesday to open Wednesday.

Only RL Clemitson remained shut, but classes were back in at Dallas Elementary, Ralph Bell Elementary, Juniper Ridge Elementary, Marion Schilling Elementary, and Valleyview Secondary.

“Regular school bus service will be provided for students attending the five reopened schools,” a statement from the Kamloops-Thompson School District said. “Water service has returned to these five schools, but the water is not consumable.”

“Drinking water stations will be provided at each school for as long as needed.”

“If everybody is following our directions, kids should be able to go to school and have a day, just unfortunately not drink water at those locations,” Luison added.

The city is still preaching conservation amid what Luison admits has been a frustrating time for many people. He also said messaging around water use will vary between neighbourhoods based on the complex nature of the city’s water system.

“We have teams working non-stop at the site and elsewhere. These are not teams that are taking this lightly,” Luison said. “We have multiple plans and we will enact them as needed.”

“The goal is to keep people in water as long as we can – so please, if you don’t need to use it, don’t use it and when alerts come out, follow them accurately.”