The City of North Battleford has announced some long-awaited good news for businesses impacted by the water restrictions due to the Husky oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 31, all water use restrictions for businesses in the city have been lifted. The water crane for bulk water sales at the Public Works Shop (6th Avenue) is back to operating again, according to the City.
Outside watering restrictions for residents remain in place until further notice.
But according to a news release from the city Wednesday, it should “only be a matter of days until watering restrictions can be lifted entirely.”
The water use restrictions went into effect when the Husky Energy oil spill into the North Saskatchewan River forced the shutdown of the F.E. Holliday Water Treatment Plant on July 22.
In the meantime work has commenced to find water sources to make up for the lost supply from the river. A temporary supply line from Battleford is up and running and the City has also been looking to build four new wells at Water Treatment Plant No. 1, as well as put in place a filtration system for the F.E. Holliday plant.
The reason water restrictions are lifted for businesses is because two of the four additional wells at Plant No.1 have been temporarily connected to the system, increasing the water supply as a result.
As for the remaining wells, the City states it is waiting for parts to arrive from the supplier. Once those arrive, they will connect all four wells to the water treatment plant.
“Once the parts arrive, it will take roughly 24 hours to set everything up,” said Stewart Schafer, director of operations.
“We will then be able to lift the restrictions for households within the City.”
