CANMORE – Work between the Town of Canmore and EPCOR is beginning to determine the cause that led to the boil water advisory that impacted much of the community only weeks ago.
While there is no timeline for the investigation’s completion or who will pay any potential extra costs, the work will see an incident investigation finished, which will include the determination of costs followed by a debrief and lessons learned.
“This was an unplanned event. There was no reason to anticipate that the commissioning of the infrastructure would trigger the sediment and turbidity in the system. … This was an unplanned event we had to respond to,” said Whitney Smithers, the Town of Canmore’s general manager of infrastructure, at an Aug. 17 council meeting.
Smithers emphasized how both the Town and EPCOR are required to follow provincial guidelines when a situation impacting the drinking water takes place.
She said Alberta Environment and Protection and Alberta Health Sciences are immediately notified and take over the decision process on if, and when, a boil water advisory is needed. The information collected by the Town, EPCOR and CIMA +, which conducts Canmore’s water modelling, is handed over to the province to decide what steps are next needed.
“It is the province that makes the decision on boil water advisories in both putting them in place and lifting them,” Smithers said.
The advisory was first declared on July 29 and the final areas of town affected were cleared on Aug. 9. The initial reports came from residents in the community who were complaining about brown water coming out of their taps.
The Town of Canmore launched an emergency coordination centre on the morning of July 30 and employees were assigned to different roles to aid residents and visitors. The centre was closed on Aug. 4.
The special website the Town setup had more than 71,000 visitors and the map showing which areas the boil water advisory was still in effect had more than 20,000 views.. The emergency newsletter the Town has also saw subscribers triple to more than 2,000.
The service was initially disrupted in the southeast of town where the South Bow Loop capital project was having a new water line installed.
A high level of turbidity was detected and Alberta Health Sciences and Alberta Environmental and Public Health were all notified.
High turbidity – when water becomes cloudy or hazy from a large number of individual particles – can be caused from a range of reasons from mud, wood ashes and melting glaciers, but the cause is dependant on water test results.
When the province was notified, EPCOR had to prove to provincial officials turbidity had not affected areas. If they were unable to do so, the system had to be flushed, although some parts of areas in Silvertip, Rundleview and the Homesteads didn’t have to be cleared.
“We were not able to determine the source of the turbidity, AHS took the route of protecting public safety first and foremost and we certainly agree with them in their decision to place a boil water advisory just to be sure,” said Dennis Letourneau, EPCOR’s site manager in Canmore.
Compounding the issue was when Pumphouse No. 1 was briefly taken offline to avoid the potential of pushing bad water in the system, which left some areas of the community without water for several hours.
EPCOR also brought in extra crews from Edmonton to assist with the flushing of the water system, which saw crews working 24 hours a day to flush nearly 70 kilometres of public and private water mains, or roughly 60 per cent of the Canmore system.
When a system is flushed, AHS has a 24-hour testing turnaround before it can ensure the water is clean, according to the Town of Canmore.
The advisory was the first for Canmore since the 2013 flood. Throughout the advisory, water trucks were available at multiple spots in Canmore.
The ongoing work for the South Bow Loop capital project is part of the Town’s utility master plan. The now completed first phase installed about 400 metres of piping from the Three Sisters Parkway to the Bow River to connect with existing pipe under the river and connect with the wastewater treatment plant.
The water issues developed in the second phase, which is designed to give the Town a third connection and have the second pump house supply water to the Benchlands Reservoir, according the Town’s website.
Town officials have said the project – which will connect the Three Sisters area to the Bow Valley Trail and goes under the Bow River – will improve the flow of water, address pressure issues and provide better water flow for fire crews.
Mayor John Borrowman stressed the strong and lengthy partnership between the Town and EPCOR, which saw crews act on emergencies such as the 2013 flood and each spring when the groundwater is high.
“We know we can count on a really strong and immediate response from EPCOR," he said.
"I understand some people in the community were frustrated by the inconvenience of being without tap water for some time, but I think kudos to EPCOR and your crews. … The Town of Canmore appreciates the effort that went into addressing this unplanned situation.”
Though the situation is now resolved, many in the community were upset by the inconvenience faced while the lines were flushed, particularly after the struggles the COVID-19 pandemic have delivered in Canmore.
“This was a very challenging situation for members of our community, for residents and businesses. It was also very challenging for the Town and EPCOR staff who were working to resolve this, who are members of the community,” Smithers said. “We do appreciate after the year-and-a-half people have been through, this was rough.”
