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Ucluelet water pipe flushing program underway

Updates are being posted on Facebook and crews are banging on doors to notify residents
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Ucluelet Public Works staffer John McDiarmid works on the current pipe flushing program. The district is hoping to clean its pipes to cut down on water discolouration. (NORA O’MALLEY/Westerly News)

Uclueletian homes and businesses began being cut off from their water supplies in waves last week as the district began an intensive flushing program to clean its water pipes and reduce the potential for discolouration.

“The current work entails the community’s water system to be divided into zones where the water will be flushed from the start of town to the end,” the district’s superintendent of public works Warren Cannon told the Westerly News.

“We ask that, during the time your street is being flushed, that you do not use the water for approximately one and a half to two hours…It is important to follow directions provided as this will reduce any sediment coming into your home/business.”

He said locals were notified of the work and schedule through the district’s website and Facebook page as well as postings at the Ucluelet Co-op grocery store and gas bar, the Municipal Hall, Chamber Office and Ucluelet Community Centre.

“District staff are also handing out notification letters door to door prior to the start of a zone being flushed,” he said.

Cannon said the flushing program was identified as a solid strategy towards maintaining consistently clear tap water during last year’s Dec. 6 town hall water meeting that was organized to respond to local complaints regarding Ucluelet’s oft-discoloured water.

“The district hopes to accomplish water quality improvements, increased flows and reduce water discolouration events by the unidirectional flushing program,” he said adding the flushing process will likely become an annual event.

Anyone with questions or concerns is encouraged to contact Warren Canon at 250-726-5507.



Andrew Bailey

About the Author: Andrew Bailey

I arrived at the Westerly News as a reporter and photographer in January 2012.
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