A misbehaving valve led to community water conservation last weekend.
Residents of Ladysmith, the Stz’uminus First Nation, and the Diamond Improvement District were asked to conserve water on May 4 at 10 am to May 5 at 6 am after a water valve would not hold.
“The valve can’t be fixed at this point,” director of Infrastructure Services, Geoff Goodall said. “When we build a new reservoir it will probably be completed at that time.”
The town of Ladysmith is planning to build the reservoir within the next 10 years. They had planned to place a new valve on to the end of the work for the water filtration plant to make it easier to connect the filtration plant to the future reservoir, but that plan is no longer an option. The misbehaving valve will not impact the completion of the water filtration plant.
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Due to delays caused by wildfires last summer and severe winter weather in February, the water filtration plant project is behind schedule. Goodall says that the project continues to progress, and should be finished by late October 2019.
“It’ll be nice to have it finished,” Goodall said.
Once completed, the plant is expected to provide the highest possible quality drinking water for the community. The town’s infrastructure service department is now looking at alternatives to ensure minimal future disruptions.