The Town of Battleford’s role in helping address North Battleford’s water needs after the oil spill were a major discussion point at Monday’s town council meeting.
Much of the discussion focused on what the town had been doing with respect to a water supply line that runs from the town across the Battleford bridge, hooking up to North Battleford at the F.E. Holliday water treatment plant.
Aubrey Whittleton from the Town's public works department confirmed they were feeding North Battleford at a rate of 75 cubic meters an hour, or 1800 cubic meters a day.
That’s all they could give North Battleford without depressurizing their own system, said Whittleton.
He added they were also supplying a half-dozen businesses with water, as well as Saskatchewan Hospital.
“We’re very busy at the water plant these days,” said Whittleton.
There have been no problems at the plant keeping up, with Whittleton saying it was running at 80 to 83 percent.
There’s been quite a bit of dialogue with the Water Security Agency as well, though Whittleton said “they’re more concerned with that side of the river,” referring mainly to the intakes for North Battleford.
The above-ground pipeline from Battleford to North Battleford is now running. There was an initial snafu when a positive test result was recorded for coliform.
Whittleton said that was “their faux pas, not ours” – there was no issues with the water leaving the hydrant. Ultimately, the pipeline did get the go-ahead.
The water is being supplied from a fire hydrant right outside Town Hall. There is also a flow meter there as well as a valve to shut the water off if needed.
The water then goes from that location down the hill, across the bridge and to the F.E. Holliday plant.
Mayor Mahon noted he had seen some of the fusing that had gone on during the work to construct the pipeline.
Whittleton also explained a little more about the way Battleford gets its water. It utilizes four wells that are located upstream and downstream near the old bridges and are 30 metres deep.
The water obtained through those wells is naturally filtered through the ground.
“A lot of those impuries are already gone by the time that we get it,” said Whittleton.
As for the potential impact of oil, “the impact of us getting anything from the river is very slim to none, at all,” said Whittleton. “It’s too thick, for one thing, to get through all that dirt, sand, clay, whatever else is there to actually get into our systems.”
However, the government has advised they will be required to do additional testing at the wells to make sure.
Mahon further explained that the reason there is no issue with the Battleford water is because they use groundwater while North Battleford utilizes surface water from the river.
Battleford council met Monday night and a big part of the discussion was the recent work to supply North Battleford with water treated at Battleford’s treatment plant, in the wake of the North Saskatchewan River Husky oil spill. Photo by John Cairns
