Temporary water restrictions in place as crews tackle emergency repairs

Residents and businesses in the North Peace are being asked to conserve water as the City begins to carry out emergency repairs to a key piece of water infrastructure.

Beginning February 5, crews will start work on the City’s Feeder Water Main, a pipeline that delivers raw water from the City’s wells near the Peace River to the Water Treatment Facility following a recently discovered leak in the line that requires immediate attention.

While the repairs are underway, the City is unable to refill its water reservoirs and as a result, temporary water restrictions will be in place and Bulk Water Dispensing Stations will be closed until the repair is made.

City staff have reported that normally, Fort St. John consumes approximately 7,300 cubic meters of water per day. As it stands, the City’s reservoirs have enough water stored to provide the community with around four to five days’ worth of water and have asked all residents to reduce their water consumption any way they can in order to preserve water for critical needs such as fire protection.

Water conservation measures such as taking shorter showers, postponing laundry and dishwasher use, not topping up personal hot tubs, and reducing non-essential water use can make a big impact on how long our water reservoirs last.

City officials stated the repairs are expected to take around 48 hours to complete, and If repairs take any longer than anticipated, there are contingency plans in place such as overland pumping from the City’s wells located near the Peace River. The reservoir levels will be closely monitored throughout the repair period according to City staff, and updates will be provided as work progresses.

The Feeder Water Main is an 11-kilometre, 18-inch (500 mm) steel pipeline installed in 1996, and it is the City’s only means of replenishing the two water reservoirs, which together provide just over 35,000 cubic meters of essential water storage for the community.