The Shuswap River in Enderby.
Image Credit: Google Earth
November 09, 2016 - 9:26 AM
GRINDROD - A diesel spill in the Shuswap River forced a shut-off of the Grindrod water utility last week.
The spill was reported Thursday, Nov. 3 upstream of the Grindrod water utility intake on the Shuswap River, according to a media release issued today, Nov. 9, by the North Okanagan Regional District. The intake was turned off to prevent contaminated water from entering the system.
“The Ministry of Environment provided the necessary response to the spill, and on Friday, after consultation with Interior Health it was determined there was no further risk to the water quality at the intake,” states the release.
There was no service interruption resulting from the shut-off because a sufficient amount of treated water was in the reservoir to supply customers.
The intake is now back on.
According to small utilities manager James de Pfyffer, the spill was caused by a tractor that went into the river.
The utility provides water to the core area of Grindrod, while many outlying properties are on their own wells, de Pfyffer says.
There is no back-up water source for the utility, and if the intake wasn’t turned back on within roughly three days, he says they would have had to bring in water trucks to fill the reservoir.
Anyone with questions can contact the regional district at 250-550-3700.
— This story was updated at 10:04 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 to include information from James de Pfyffer.
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