The Boil Water Advisory from mid-April was the result of a construction incident, according to a report to Town Council.
On April 15, Carbon Earthworks Ltd. was working on the construction of a sanitary line at Pogadl Park’s Offsite Sanitary, Water Servicing and Memorial Trail Project on the west side of 60 Street when a water main was hit.
The report to Council says the water main that supplies water to the Sixty West subdivision was “hit during the final ream before pulling in 16” High-Density Polyethylene.”
The incident occurred around 9:50 a.m. Roughly an hour later the affected water main was located and the leak was controlled.
According to the Town, 3,700 homes were affected by the incident and the boil water advisory.
“On Sat., April 17, Alberta Health Services (AHS) removed mandatory Boil Water Advisory (BWA) for all the areas except Sixty West. On Sun., April 18, AHS removed BWA for the entire impacted residents of the Town once all the water quality results were received,” the report states.
An investigation into the incident found better communication between Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) and AHS is needed and should be looked into. As well, it was recommended the Town “strengthen the engineering drawings review process” and “develop a standard operating procedure for responding to Alberta One-Call.”
By “strengthening the engineering drawings review process” it will ensure important information, like the location of water mains, is not missed. A standard operating procedure make sure information on ground are provided and communicated through written documents and recorded.
“Administration is also directed to develop an Operational Plan as mandated by Standards for Municipal Waterworks and Code of Practice while also developing a plan/protocol for Boil Water Advisories in collaboration with AHS/AEP.”
In addition, Council approved the compensation of those impacted by the four-day Boil Water Advisory. This totals $23,774.75, and will be funded from the utility reserve.
The Town came to this total by using the formula: Total Compensation = Base Charges + Consumption.
“The consumption estimates use both water and sewer consumption charges because the owner is charged both based on how much water they use,” the report states.
The full report is available to review online at the Town’s website, www.sylvanlake.ca.