Water headaches persist

Photo: Carmen Weld

If you live in West Kelowna you may notice the neighbourhood chatter is water, a referendum and more water.

The water-quality advisory has been in place for the Lakeview Water System for more than six weeks now and residents have begun airing their frustration.

Signs have popped up around the city suggesting residents should question the safety of the water and the Rose Valley dam itself, as well as encouraging residents to vote no in the referendum as the no side argues clean water should be a priority over a new city hall.

However, the city said the signs are all based on incorrect information and that water is currently a priority for the city.

“We have completed our dam-safety review in 2014, a comprehensive inspection. We do have audits that take place and weekly inspection,” Rob Hillis, engineering manager with the City of West Kelowna.

“Since the municipality took these water irrigation districts over, a lot of work and planning has been completed into providing safe drinking water for our residents. Whether the civic centre referendum passes or fails won't affect our timeline for completed water treatment for West Kelowna.”

The water advisory was first issued for the Lakeview Water System on Aug. 4, and affects 11,000 people in Lakeview Heights, Rose Valley, Boucherie Centre, Shannon Woods, Tallus Ridge and Shannon Lake areas.

“The water-quality advisory is still issued and people with compromised immune systems are still recommended to boil the water. We have a biologist monitoring the situation and they are taking tests every other day and they are providing reports on the situation. Currently, the turbidity is still above one, but not a lot above one,” said Hillis.

Hillis explained that it is very rare for them to see turbidity levels over one in the Rose Valley Reservoir – the last time was in 2008.

“Our data suggests that this is not a typical occurrence. I am sure it is frustrating to some residents, it is frustrating to us, but we are at the mercy of the environment,” said Hillis.

“We had a large algae bloom in May, we had a lot of active weather and a high-reservoir level that added a lot of sediment. It just takes time for it to go away in water. It is environmental factors leading to this.”

Hillis argues that the city does provide safe water for its residents and that this turbidity is out of their hands, but that the city in the process of fixing the problem right at the source.

“The long-term plan is to treat water at the source, a filtration plant,” said Hillis. “Since we took over the two water irrigation districts, Westbank and Lakeview, in 2011, we've completed a Water Utility Master Plan, we've done dam-safety reviews, we're currently doing a water-rate study.”

He said the project plan in the works would cost about $40.6 million, so the city is currently looking into increased water rates to cover the cost.

The new filtration plant is expected to be built and in operation by 2021.