In the past few years, with the heavy amount of water the City of Yorkton has seen, many citizens are looking for ways to dry up their properties. Lawrence Rehaluk with Rehaluk's Clean Sweep Contracting believes he has a potential solution, but he says the City of Yorkton has not been allowing him to install his idea for residents in the area. He called a meeting recently to discuss this problem with members of the public.
The solution Rehaluk has been trying to install for people in the area is an outside sump setup. He says it works as well as weeping tile or an indoor sump, and that people who he has installed it for have seen their water table go down dramatically. He also notes that instead of pumping water into the sewage system, it goes into the storm sewer, where the city does not have to treat it. He also says that it is a system that is relatively inexpensive to install compared to a weeping tile system and doesn't change the structure of the home.
"Basically you are installing the same thing on the perimeter of the home that thousands of people have installed within the home itself, and changed the structure of the home by jackhammering a hole in the floor," he details.
The problem lies partially in the interpretation of a bylaw, which Rehaluk says is being used incorrectly. The law itself says that wells are not allowed in the city, and that these sumps are classified as wells.
"No one that I know has used this sump for consumption, and no one that I know has used it to connect a pressurized system, and we are not installing potable water pipe. All people are looking for is a way to solve their water problems that they're having in their basements, and they want to get back in and renovate," he adds.
He notes that some cities have been encouraging the installation of similar systems and says Humboldt is paying people to install outdoor sumps as part of a program to reduce damage to that city's basements.
Rehaluk says that representatives of the City of Yorkton and Disaster Relief were invited to come to the meeting to share their side of the debate and listen to the concerns of people present, but nobody from either showed up.
"The overall feeling that I have after having the meeting is that the citizens of Yorkton are not impressed with the rules and regulations restricting them from defending their own property from high water tables, and were not impressed in the least that there was no representation here from the city, as if nobody cares about their concerns," Rehaluk says.
This is an election year, and Rehaluk says it could become an election issue, as more people become frustrated with their inability to find a solution to their water problems. He says that the next step is to get people together to bring their concerns before council, and his is finding a lot of frustration that these problems have yet to be fixed.
"That's all people want, to have this resolved," he concludes.
