The work to fix a leak in a water main on 50th Street was delayed last week, when the site for the repairs was broken into and infrastructure in the area was damaged. The damage was done sometime between the night of May 10 and the morning of May 11.
Ricki McLarty, Communications Assistant with the Town of Sylvan Lake said the Town of Sylvan Lake Public Works Department set up temporary waterlines, so that they could work to fix the water main leak, and that those were targeted by the whomever did the damage.
“It’s been fixed at this point, and they’re working on the water main repair, again,” said McLarty.
She noted that the vandalism was a particularly troublesome setback, as it came just after Public Works crews found the source of the leak: a leak on a portion of the line referred to as a flange connection, just outside the pressure reducing valve vault.
McLarty stated that Public Works had installed temporary waterlines to reroute water, so that repairs could be done on the main line, without interruption of water services to residences in the vicinity of the work site.
“They had done up a big plan, for if the leak were to be anywhere else - but where the leak was, it turned out to just need an easier fix,” said McLarty.
McLarty noted that no act of vandalism to something as important as a water main can be considered minor, since “it’s costly to have to stop and fix it.”
‘They had to put off the main repair to fix those damaged temporary water liens that were installed to serve houses and apartments. It could have put the entire town’s water supply at risk, and we take that very seriously,” said McLarty.
Public Works is encouraging residents in the area to come forward with any complaints if they experience low water pressure or water discolouration as a result of the vandalism.
The RCMP, who have been apprised of the vandalism, are also encouraging anyone who may have seen something on the night of May 10 into the early hours of May 11 to call Crime Stoppers or the Sylvan Lake RCMP.
samuel.macdonald@sylvanlakenews.com