Sprinkling Ban To End
Prince George, B.C. – The enhanced water restrictions in place in Prince George since Monday, will be lifted as of 5 p.m. today.
There are still watering restrictions in place, which call for even numbered homes allowed to water on even numbered days, odd numbered homes on odd numbered days, and not between noon and five of any day.
Public Works Acting Director Gina Layte-Liston says the problem was both with the pumps and the reservoir, not the aquifer “We didn’t see any draw down or decreases in the aquifer’s capacity, so we found that the pumps that we have , which are built for these types of populations, were at max capacity and so when you have your pumps at max capacity, it has a difficult time maintaining the levels in the reservoir.”
On Monday, the level in the reservoir was down to levels of concern when it comes to the ability to fight fires. “On Monday, at one well, we pumped 60 million litres of water in a 24 hour period, comparatively to Wednesday ( when the restriction was in place) for a 24 hour period when we pumped 29 million litres of water, so we had over 47% decrease in the amount of water used. ” She says the average from that one well is about 29 million litres, so it is clear a lot or most of that extra pressure was coming from irrigation efforts.
Layte-Liston says no one was fined during the water restriction period, “The reason we didn’t do that is we wanted to get out there and do an education piece. so we definitely had staff out there for a number of nights covering the city and that was all about information and educating residents.”
Layte-Liston says the regular watering restrictions ( odd, even and time) are covered by a bylaw that’s been in place for about a decade, so, anyone caught in contravention of that bylaw, will be fined. “For the next few days, we will have staff out enforcing the bylaw.”
Comments
I am puzzled why the city is not just telling people the real cause for the water shortage and that isn’t because of over consumption making the pumps not keep up, but rather they had pump issues and didn’t have all available pumps working. Apparently now it’s fixed and things are back to normal.
And your proof is?
Either way we should not take water as a given. Should still be responsable in it’s use, don’t water the driveway and street all the time. One day we may not have much for ourself only enough to give away at $2.25 per million litters to companies that sell it to the US.
We still do not have the whole story.
As I understand it, the pumps do not pump the water directly into the downstream pipes from the reservoirs. They pump water into the reservoirs from where the water then flows via gravity into the distribution network as there is demand downstream as people and automatic appliances call for water.
What we are not being told how much the total water in ALL the reservoirs was drawn down from their maximum capacity and what the total maximum capacity of ALL pumps is at any given time.
We also are not being told what the margin of safety or risk is with respect to total system capacity for situations where aquifer, pumps, reservoirs and water mains may fail for a short and extended period of time.
I continue to believe that the water restriction efforts were drastic ones and were brought on by some sort of abnormal failure or error.
I am also still wondering whether the attempt to use less water which was implemented some 10 years ago, and which set a goal of water use reduction by 2015 compared to the 2004 total use has been met. That goal was set so that the replacement of aging equipment and increasing of capacity can be moved forward by 10 years. It indicated that money would have to be spent to not only increase capacity but also invest in new equipment.
The report is available on the City’s web page. We should not be surprised if we will be told in the coming months that a special levy will be put onto our taxes for some period of 2 or 3 years to bring the water system back to capacity and get it ready for expected future growth.
What no fines. geez.
Damn! Guess I gotta mow again…..
My very reliable source, who knows because of their work, is an employee of the city. Obviously I won’t, can’t and shouldn’t be giving any names on here. So you will just have to take that as face value. I have had occasion to work on and off with this person for the past several years, so I know they know what they are talking about.
The quote in the article is: “we had over 47% decrease in the amount of water used.”
Yes, I know that 52% is over 47%, so any number over 47% would still leave that statement as true. However, the impression of the reader is that 47% or 47.1% or 47.4% may be the number, and if the number hits 48%, that 48% or higher, the higher should have been the number used.
I do not consider someone who does not know how to do a simple calculation someone who knows what they are talking about. As a registered professional biologist with a Masters in Environmental Science, she should know better.
Also, I would prefer to hear the full story from the engineer in charge of the water distribution system. We are not dealing with water quality here, we are dealing with the mechanics of a water delivery system and its capacity as well as state of repair.
I forgot to mention why I use 52%. Some may not understand without an explanation.
If 60 million was pumped on Monday and 29 million on Wednesday, then the reduction in the amount pumped was 31 million. 31M/60M = 52%, not 47%.
First off..who cares what the levels in the reservoirs are..as long as they are kept above emergency level. Why would us knowing the full capacity of the pumps help? I think having a water restriction with the weather we are having is an intelligent move.. No biggie if my lawn goes brown..but would be a bit different if my house burnt down due to insufficient water levels from watering etc.
Water is not an endless resource..
People, we are continually not being given the full or real story from this Administration and Council. If it was a mechanical issue then fine. Poor planning and wasting of tax payers dollars is no excuse. A levy to pay to upgrade the water infrastructure? What was the tripling of our
utilities bills over the last few years for then, other than to pay for all the promotions and new administrators. Does more unqualified and incompetent management really make for a better run City, I think not.
So, the City rescinds a 2 day “swat team” like ban on sprinkling and then spins it like this: “The City has determined that levels of consumption within the system have decreased to the extent that there is no longer a concern with the City’s infrastructure to deliver water for firefighting.”
I agree with Bent – why didn’t the City just tell the truth to begin with and tell us that it was a pump issue? Citizens could at least credit you with with being proactive. When you don’t tell the truth it erodes trust – and there is a HUGE trust issue with the City of PG
“Water is not an endless resource” .. actually, that is not entirely true. I remember watching a documentary on water and drought conditions around the globe. Apparently every drop of water that was ever on the earth is still on the earth, it could just be temporarily in a different form, either a gas, liquid or solid. The notion that water runs out is wrong, water simply relocates from one area to another depending on the weather patterns of the day. That is why some areas on earth are experiencing drought conditions for the first time and other areas seem to be constantly flooding due to heavy rainfall. Just a sign of the changing climate.
Bent..yes it is still on earth,,,guess I should have added…clean drinking water.. Dirty polluted water is abundant ..
“Swat team like ban”
Hahaha
Maybe consider decaf?
They just get everyone all worked up and confused then cancel their restrictions. Typical.
Hey Bent, you might want to read this.
www. washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/06/16/new-nasa-studies-show-how-the-world-is-running-out-of-water/
Copy and paste the link in your address bar, then delete the space between the www. and the w.
“Worked up and confused”. I don’t know anyone that got that way from the stopping of watering lawns etc. how confusing is… Can’t water your lawns anymore? Now you can again… Omg. What am I to do ? I am so confused..lol.
The world is not running out of water. Ocean water can be de-salienated and made potable. It takes a lot of energy so we better produce more energy by solar, wind, tidal and geothermal means. At present we are using fresh water as if the available amount does not have any limits. Whether we like it or not we will have to face reality much sooner than later. Or die of thirst and hunger.
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