Lately, driving downtown on 50th Street has been a little slower than usual, with a significant portion of the street near 48 Avenue and the downtown area barricaded off, and crews with the Town of Sylvan Lake Public Works department at work, with machinery in the area.
Crews are in the midst of an ongoing investigation of the area, searching for the source of a water leak. In the CAO’s report at the regular April 24 meeting of the Sylvan Lake Town Council, information was disclosed about the progress in locating the source of the leak.
Presently, testing is still underway at the intersection of 50 Street and 48 Avenue to determine what the problem is, and where the problems is, with the underlying water infrastructure that caused the leak. Crews are careful to be as minimally invasive as possible in their testing. At the time of the report to Council, the source of the leak was not located.
“There is a major line that runs through there, and it connects to the reservoir,” said Communications Officer Joanne Gaudet. “We don’t want to do anything without knowing exactly what it is we’re targeting. We can’t just go in, and risk creating more of a problem, so we’re just working to find a solution.”
Gaudet noted that some of the tools the Town is utilizing to locate the leak include listening devices, chlorine tests - and failing all else - exploratory digs.
In the CAO’s report, Council heard that efforts to locate the origin of the leak have taken crews as far west as H.J. Cody High School.
“There are a lot of unknowns right now,” said Mayor Sean McIntyre, in response to the CAO’s report. “My head is full of questions, but we will have to see. I will hang onto my questions.”
A Town official who spoke specifically about Public Works’ efforts at finding the source of the leak to Council said, “the best thing to do is not charge in, and cause something worse to happen.”
He noted that Public Works is implementing a slow, methodical and planned strategy to find what they need to find, and that is why the process is taking time.
samuel.macdonald@sylvanlakenews.com