The City of Merritt says it won’t be lifting water restrictions today, even though a pump that failed has been fixed.

CAO Cynthia White says its because water sprayed onto the electrical system at the Voght Street pump station – which houses two of Merritt’s five water pumps – when it failed this week.

“The manufacturer of the SCADA system which monitors the pump usage and how much water we’re producing, they suggested 48 hours to let it dry out before it is assessed by the electricians, so that takes us into Thursday,” White said. “We’re hoping to have more news by then whether or not there’s been an impact to the SCADA system, which means we will not be able to operate the pump until we can get that repaired.”

“With the rate that the water was spraying out, it was just getting in. We’re not sure how it got into the system, but it was spraying out at a pretty high rate and taking paint off the walls.”

Speaking on NL Newsday, White says engineers will attempt to restart and test the electrical system once it is sufficiently dry.

“The replacement of the gasket was very easy. It’s really the electrical components that are the issue right now,” White said, noting its possible that the electrical system may need further repairs because of the water damage.

“We can isolate the components that are damaged and replace those versus burning out the entire system which would be significantly more challenging.”

White says while the other water pumps in Merritt are able to keep up with the demand for now, the restrictions will remain in place until the entire system is back at full capacity.

“We’re making enough water to start getting some refill on the reservoirs, but we just want to make sure we have our full analysis before we take the water restrictions off,” she said.

The pump failure led to a notice to Merritt residents asking them to not use water for non-essential purposes like watering lawns and washing cars until further notice.

White says the restrictions were meant to ensure that there is sufficient water available for Merritt firefighters should they need it in an emergency as only three of the five water wells in Merritt are operating right now.

“The City continues to ask residents to voluntarily limit non-essential water usage during this time, such as avoiding watering lawns or doing outdoor washing,” a statement from the City of Merritt said. “Watering of vegetable gardens is still permitted.”

“We appreciate the cooperation of residents to help reduce pressure on our water distribution system at this time.”