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Emergency repair puts Vernon under water quality advisory

Precaution for Duteau customers after Lavington incident fixed
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UPDATE JAN. 17, 1 p.m.:

Greater Vernon Water has customers in the Duteau Water Supply area under a precautionary Water Quality Advisory (WQA), in effect until sampling results confirm that the drinking water is safe.

The WQA is in effect due to an emergency repair in Lavington (Coldstream) that caused extremely low flows at the Duteau Water Treatment Plant impacting treatment. While all of the water was treated with chlorine and clarification, the low flows resulted in some water in the system not receiving UV treatment.

“This morning, crews repaired the failed air valve and have begun filling the water main again,” GVW said. “For customers who were without water, service should return to normal by early this afternoon. Most Duteau customers were temporarily switched to the Kalamalka supply and will be returned to Duteau supply later today and are therefore impacted by the precautionary WQA.”

Greater Vernon Water expects that the advisory will be rescinded by the end of the week if all samples results are good.

When service is restored, customers may experience some turbidity, which is normal. To clear the lines, run your bathtub and other taps and appliances on cold water until the water runs clear.

……………………….

ORIGINAL JAN. 16, 8 p.m.:

An emergency fix has resulted in little, or no water for some Lavington residents.

Customers east of Lavington lost water service late Sunday and continue to have no water while operations crews repair a failed air release valve on a large transmission water main. This will affect properties on Learmouth Road from Park Lane to Whitevale Road, including Rochdell and Reid roads. Customers in the Lavington area may experience lower water pressure or loss of water during the shutdown and repair.

“As the failure is on a large transmission main, it needs to be fully drained which will impact a larger area than normal,” the Greater Vernon Water utility said.

Crews are repairing the issue and expect the water outage to be until Monday evening (Jan. 16) before the system is restored and water service is resumed.

“When service is restored, you may experience some turbidity and this is normal,” the utility advises. “Please run your bathtub as well as other taps and appliances on cold water until the water runs clear.”

Further updates are expected Monday morning.

READ MORE: Rock debris reported on road south of Vernon

READ MORE: Fire that destroyed Coldstream home under investigation


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Jennifer Smith

About the Author: Jennifer Smith

Vernon has always been my home, and I've been working at The Morning Star since 2004.
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