FORT FRANCES—Beginning next Wednesday (May 28), all water customers in Fort Frances will be restricted from non-essential outdoor water use due to the upcoming repair work on the water tower.
The water tower will be taken out of service for about nine weeks, with the restriction scheduled to end July 30.
“In May, 2007, we cleaned and did an inspection of the water tower. It was determined that the exterior and interior coating systems must be replaced,” Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown noted Friday.
Under normal operating circumstances, the total storage capacity within the Town of Fort Frances’ water distribution system, including both the water tower and water treatment plant, is 1,876,375 imperial gallons.
With the water tower out of service, that storage capacity will be reduced by 52.7 percent.
In order to ensure there always will be a constant supply of water for fire protection, the town has imposed the ban on non-essential use of water outdoors during the period the water tower is out of service.
This restriction is different from the annual May 15-Sept. 15 odd/even day water restriction as it will be effective every day of the week during the rehabilitation of the water tower.
From May 28-July 30, all water customers in the Town of Fort Frances and Couchiching First Nation will not be allowed to use water externally for the following activities:
•watering lawns and gardens;
•filling swimming pools;
•washing vehicles; and
•any other use of water that is not essential to public health and safety, personal hygiene, or to sustain a commercial activity at the municipal address where water is used.
In order to have access to a supply of river water for the above mentioned non-essential use of water, the town will be setting up a water pumping system at the Sorting Gap Marina dock for all water customers to fill tanks and containers.
“We know we need the water for fire protection, so we don’t want people to use water wastefully,” Brown explained.
“With the reduction in water use, I think we’ll be in reasonable shape fire management wise,” added Fort Frances Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong.
He explained there will be about one million gallons of water they won’t have in storage anymore. To put that into perspective, Chief Armstrong noted about one million gallons of water was used on the fire at J.W. Walker School here back in February.
“So we need to ask people to co-operate,” he stressed. “This is important and needs to be done.”
Given the town bylaw has been amended for the water tower rehabilitation project, Chief Armstrong indicated bylaw enforcement officers and the OPP will be enforcing the restriction.
“They are going to be encouraging and reminding people of the water restriction,” he noted. “And there will be significant penalties for those who don’t comply.”
In fact, the penalty for violating the restriction of water use during this rehabilitation period may result in a fine of up to $5,000.
“We know it’s going to be an inconvenience,” Brown conceded. “But it’s important the water tower is maintained and fully operational for the long term.”
He indicated ever since the E. coli tragedy in Walkerton, Ont., the American Water Works Association Standards recommend interior inspections every three years.
Last year was the first time in 12 years they had gone inside the water tower.
“We found that it had deteriorated to the point where we have to reapply the entire coating systems,” Brown said.
Through a public tender process, the Town of Fort Frances awarded the rehabilitation work of the water tower to Norwec Company of King City, Ont. on May 12.
Brown noted the company will prepare and paint both the interior and exterior of the water tower, as well as conduct several upgrades inside it.
A new boiler will be installed and the chlorine equipment will be moved to its own room. Where the chlorine equipment is now is causing much of the other equipment to rust, Brown indicated.
There also will be some structural upgrades to ensure they are compliant with the new Occupational Health and Safety Act regulations.
“It’s going to take some time to sandblast the interior because they will have to get down to bare metal to make sure everything adheres to it properly,” Brown said.
As well, Brown explained the reason the rehabilitation project has to be done in the summer, as opposed to the fall when outdoor water use isn’t as prominent, is because the paint needs to cure in warmer weather.
“The paint is the barrier, the protection of the steel. You can’t paint when it’s too cold out,” he noted. “If I could do it in the fall, I would have.”
The town would appreciate everyone’s co-operation in complying with the water restriction during this time.
For further information, contact Douglas Herr, superintendent of Environmental and Facilities, Operations and Facilities Division, at 274-9893.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
