People living in Aberdeen, Lac Le Jeune, Knutsford, Dufferin, Iron Mask, Pineview Valley, and Upper Sahali are being asked to conserve water after a water main break that occurred Tuesday evening.
It is to help maintain water supply for domestic use and fire suppression.
The break occurred in an area that’s relatively close to the Xget’tem’ Trail, fairly close to Highway One, west of the Peterson Creek Bridge. City staff say it is a fairly challenging area and because it was such a steep slope, that erosion was discovered fairly quickly. Crews were able to isolate that and get crews and equipment in there.
Environmental Services Manager Glen Farrow says it’s not a major pipe break, and that valve was fixed at around 2:45 Wednesday afternoon. At the same time the city is trying to balance the water across the reservoirs to ensure everyone has the appropriate water within their area.
“Very similar messaging that we’ve had throughout the drought seasons that we’ve seen over the last few years. So, that outdoor water usage is where we see it really escalates. Maybe you put off doing your laundry for a couple more days too, until this all all stabilizes. Because that’s the other big thing too. Is once the repair is completed, there will be some time in order to get the the network back up to running.”
“We’ve activated two of our master service agreements, our geotechnical engineering as well as our civil construction contractors, and they determined it was an air release valve failure. So thankfully, that’s what it is… at the same time we’re we’re balancing the water across the reservoirs to ensure everyone has the appropriate water within their area.”
Farrow says it is working with civic operations and Kamloops Fire and Rescue to determine what areas may be of risk if this continues throughout the day and into the evening. “So moving forward, we just continue to encourage residents to watch their consumption and reduce any non essential water use, anything really south of the Trans Canada Highway.”
Farrow says there will be some time needed in order to get the the network back up to running.
UPDATE 2:45 pm Wednesday, February 26: The water main break has now been repaired and the reservoirs are currently being restored. We continue to encourage residents to conserve water consumption as much as possible over the next 24 hours. Thank you for your co-operation.
— City of Kamloops (@cityofkamloops) February 26, 2025
