On Sunday, June 22, Vavenby’s Thompson-Nicola Regional District water maintenance operator Tighe Hewlitt discovered a leak under the pump house. This was caused by a rock rubbing over time against an underground pipe and creating a hole. Due to the area of the leak the pumps were shut off.
Residents were notified of the break and advised to use extreme water conservation. The amount of water in the reservoir was all that was left to feed the town until the hole was fixed.
Residents were phoned again and advised to use very extreme water conservation. “Use only for necessities of life,” said TNRD utilities manager Arden Bolten.
Necessities would include short showers, flushing toilets, food preparation, etc. Water should not be used at all for irrigation such as watering lawns and gardens or for washing vehicles.
Ken Nystoruk and Dale Stachoski – both TNRD utility technicians – and Bolten came from Kamloops the next morning and started repairing the pipe at 11 a.m. They were completed by 2:30 p.m. Hewlitt was also present to help.
A third phone call had gone out to the community to really encourage residents to put into practice the water conservation methods in the hopes of not losing the town’s water supply. However not everyone followed these methods and Vavenby emptied its reservoir in 12 hours, leaving the town without any water for four hours. This did not need to happen.
Some people might not have been conserving water because they did not receive the phone calls. Maybe they do not have an answering machine or perhaps they are not on the call list.
If you would like your name and number added to the list phone the TNRD (no charge) at 1-877-377-8673 and ask for Monica.