The city is warning residents to be prepared for a slight change in the taste and smell of the water coming out of their taps as the city prepares to change its drinking water system.
Starting this week, the city will be making temporary adjustments to how it treats our drinking water in order to accommodate the upcoming construction of the water system upgrades.
The city says those adjustments may result in minor changes to the taste and smell of the community’s drinking water until early June.
“Campbell River water will still remain well within Canadian drinking water quality guidelines,” said Jennifer Peters, the city’s utilities manager, in a release.
“People may notice slight changes to the taste and odour of our drinking water until early June. City staff are working closely with provincial officials from Island Health to ensure that water quality is maintained to the high standards that Campbell River expects.”
The new system will involve a new intake and pump chamber at John Hart Lake which will connect to a new large diameter, transmission pipe connecting the city’s Elk Falls Water Quality Centre to the water system source.
It will replace the city’s current connection to BC Hydro’s penstocks which are being removed as part of the utility’s John Hart Generating Station Replacement Project.
The drinking water project is scheduled to be done in two phases, with delivery and installation of a new transmission pipe completed first, followed by the intake, pump chamber and connection to the Water Quality Centre in the second phase.
City council has budgeted $16.6 million for the entire water intake project, with the cost spread out over three years.
BC Hydro has committed to pay 75 per cent of the costs, up to a maximum of $12.5 million, with the city making up the remainder through a combination of accumulated surplus and debt.
The project is required to be complete by the end of 2017.
To find out more about the city’s project, visit www.campbellriver.ca and search under Capital Projects.