CANMORE – A balancing issue regulating pressure zones between pumphouse No. 1 and No. 2 as well as a potential mechanical failure in a pressure reducing valve led to the water restrictions in Canmore, Dead Man’s Flats and Harvie Heights, according to EPCOR staff.
At a Tuesday (June 20) presentation to Canmore council, Town and EPCOR staff highlighted the updated information that led to the restrictions being needed in the municipality.
Though preliminary information was provided, Artur Ishkulov, EPCOR’s site manager for Canmore, said they’re continuing to work with Town staff to investigate potential issues and causes.
“We have specialists working on it evaluating data,” he said.
Ishkulov did emphasize the issues weren’t related to excessive water demand or a low water supply, but added Canmore’s water system is among the most complex in EPCOR’s portfolio due to the elevation changes.
In the presentation, it was outlined the Grassi reservoir was not recovering water as of June 5 after a heavy demand weekend. While the reservoir wasn't refilling, water leaks were also found, with the first one being fixed June 8 and the second on June 9.
The water restrictions were announced June 9 prior to a weekend as a way to ensure water flow for the fire department and water supply.
By June 10, the Grassi reservoir began recovering, a third leak was fixed June 12 and a fourth fixed June 13. The non-essential water restrictions were lifted June 14.
Ishkulov highlighted that due to the time of year with high groundwater, repairs were made more difficult and that EPCOR will continue to monitor the flow and continue fixing any leaks that arise.
“Historically in Canmore, EPCOR repairs the leaks in the fall when the groundwater is down. Right now, it’s a huge challenge for us to pump the water out,” he said. “You probably see some construction sites struggling with the same issues like we are.”
However, throughout the water restriction many residents found the communication to be confusing.
The original media release stated a “large, unexpected overnight demand” had taken place as well as above average temperatures and less than normal rainfall as contributing factors.
On June 12, EPCOR noted there were five pipe leaks in recent weeks due to new leak technology having recently being installed in Canmore in mid-May that allowed for more precise detection.
“A combination of community demand management, system operations and system leak repairs” led to the Grassi reservoir being refilled to the proper levels, the utility organization said on June 12.
According to EPCOR, checks for material leaks are done visually making it difficult to see how long the leaks had been occurring.
Repair work for leaks in Canmore’s water system are typically done in the fall when groundwater is at lower levels and before the winter frost hits the community.
Ishkulov said leaks are a contributing factor, but not a major reason for the water restrictions.
“Leaks would contribute, obviously it’s a substantial amount of volume, but it’s about 40-50 per cent of the total situation. By just fixing the leaks, the situation would not be contained,” he said.
Dennis Letourneau, the former site manager and acting site manager the week of June 5 when Ishkulov was on vacation, noted in his seven years as Canmore’s site manager there would historically be two to five main breaks a year as ground shifted.
“It’s coincidently, to a certain extent, these leaks were located just a few weeks before this event happened,” he said. “The intent was to repair them when groundwater was lower, the cost is less and you have a higher chance of success in the safety factors involved with excavating with soggy soil is mitigated.”
Both Letourneau and Ishkulov added Canmore has about 25 to 28 per cent leakage in its system and EPCOR has put in significant work to lower the loss of water.
Ishkulov told council from June 9-11 they were collecting data and initial communication may have been misunderstood. Updated information was provided June 12 to clarify who was impacted, who wasn’t and what people could and couldn’t do.
He added if a water demand management plan had been in place, it likely would’ve assisted in preparing for certain scenarios and “clear who is affected, what scenarios are implemented and when they will take place.”
Andreas Comeau, the Town’s manager of public works, echoed the importance of a water demand management plan, with both sides working towards the implementation of one in the future.
“In our experience, our pier municipalities do have water demand for situations like massive water breaks, heat waves, infrastructure issues which will also help and streamline the communication pattern where it will be a certain scenario and certain steps to be taken and who’s affected,” Ishkulov said.
Canmore’s water system is broken into three supply areas of western, central and eastern.
Grassi reservoir feeds water into the western and central areas and has a supply of 5,000 cubic metres in volume and its facility is pumphouse No. 2 near the Canmore Nordic Centre.
The Grassi reservoir is an underground tank not visible to the public and is not to be confused with the water bodies that comprise the Rundle Forebay, which is part of the drinking water system.
The Town and EPCOR signed a five-year renewal agreement in 2021 with three five-year renewals. The contract has 33 key performance indicators and targets to achieve.
Owen Tait, a water resources engineer with the Town, said they’re converting from paper inspections to using a digital inspection via ArcGIS that allows EPCOR and the Town to gain real time data for tracking and analyzing potential water issues.
He added the Town and EPCOR have started a lifecycle project to upgrade water meters at residential and commercial properties.
“We’re trying to tackle areas strategically to place all the meters in the valley bottom first before we go to the next area because we have a certain amount of meters in stock,” Tait said.
He said the new meter will allow for greater efficiency in collecting meter information and allow for improved leak detection.
EPCOR didn’t provide a comment on why a community-wide advisory was needed if not all reservoirs were impacted, but that it “was needed to manage demand and allow Grassi reservoir to refill.”
The 2022 Utility Master Plan (UMP) was presented to council in May. Though traditionally approved by council, it has yet to reach such approval.
The UMP noted Canmore potable storage reservoirs have a storage of 18,966 cubic metres in volume.
Other Canmore reservoirs include Benchlands with 7,300 cubic metres for eastern and central supply areas, Silvertip with 5,400 cubic metres for the eastern area and the two pumphouses having a small volume totaling 1,266 cubic metres.
The Town’s main sources of water are two deep wells supplying groundwater to Pumphouse No. 1 and surface water from Rundle Forebay that supplies Pumphouse No. 2.
After the water’s treated, it’s stored in five reservoirs and five pump stations, which in turn are distributed to three supply areas that are western, central and eastern.
The Benchlands reservoir, which supplies east and central Canmore, has a volume of 7,300 cubic metres, while Silvertip reservoir for the east area of Canmore is 5,400 cubic metres. The UMP also stated the Benchlands reservoir was reported to have a storage volume of 11,200 cubic metres, but a review of the design “indicated the total active volume of the reservoir is calculated to be 7,300 m3.”
From 2018-21, there was an average water distribution of 2.67 million cubic metres and a consumption rate of 1.84 million cubic metres for a losses factor of 1.45. The loss factor, according to the UMP, is system loses, fire hydrant operations and unmetered water connections.
The UMP highlights “in total, approximately 30 per cent of the water distributed in Canmore is unmetered.”
The exact cost of the work is not yet known, as well as who will cover the costs, but Town CAO Sally Caudill said staff would report back to council when that information is available.
The bulk of the Town’s water pipes – about 64 per cent – are 30 years old or less. The UMP stated about 65 per cent of water mains are PVC and 30 per cent ductile iron, with the average age of water lines about 30 years old. There are 118 kilometres of pipe in the municipality, according to the UMP.
Comeau noted several water pipes in the downtown core were constructed and installed in the mid-1960s and are scheduled for lifecycle replacement in the next 10-15 years.
He added there will likely be more leaks in coming years when the ground shifts during the spring.
“Over the next 10-15 years, it’ll be quite a challenge for the utility to ensure we keep on top of these breaks,” he said.
