Contributed by the City of Revelstoke
Water supply was restored to the Big Eddy late last night after a team effort involving Big Eddy Water board and staff, local electrical contractors Boulder Mountain Electric and Canyon Industrial Electrical Services, Mearls Machine Shop from Kelowna, BC Hydro and City of Revelstoke Utilities staff.
On top of the work performed to restore pump service from the well, city crews were dispatched to assist with planning for emergency alternative water supplies, and inspecting the infrastructure on Dolan Creek for use as a possible temporary water source.
A replacement pump was delivered to Revelstoke yesterday afternoon and crews and contractors spent the next six hours troubleshooting issues and were able to restore water supply just after 9 p.m. However, lightning strikes in the area overnight caused a communication fault that stopped the pump and refilling of the reservoir, and city crews assisted this morning with ensuring the system is back to fully operational, and pumping resumed just before noon today.
Director of Engineering and Development, Mike Thomas stated: "The collaboration of multiple parties working well into the night to resolve this issue shows an impressive level of dedication to providing services to residents and businesses from all involved. While the city is not yet responsible for operations and maintenance of the Big Eddy Water system, city staff will continue to monitor and provide support as necessary to ensure that Big Eddy Water is able to provide full water supply to the community."
City crews are preparing to install monitoring and alarm equipment on the system to allow for remote diagnosis and alerts of system status and alarms, which will allow for improved response times and efficiency of managing the system, and planning is underway for works to improve the chlorine distribution in the system which are expected to be installed later this year.