Swan River to run out of water due to pumping-system failure

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This article was published 28/01/2018 (2976 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba town of Swan River has declared a local state of emergency and is asking residents and businesses to cut back on their water usage because of a major break in its water pumping and distribution system.

“Pressure in the system has been reduced and a total loss of water throughout the town is imminent,” a statement on the town’s website said Sunday.

“This is completely unprecedented,” Swan River’s deputy mayor Lance Jacobson said by phone Sunday afternoon. “We’ve had a good system and this really caught us off guard. We have not found the source of our problem so we are still working on that.

“We have some really good artesian wells and there’s water in the wells — we know that,” he said. “The problems is with the pumps or something down in the wells — if something burst somewhere, there’s a leak or something wrong with the wells.”

To check on the system, pumps that are close to 24 metres (80-feet) deep will have to be pulled to the surface to see if there is anything wrong with them, Jacobson said.

“It’s not something that can be found quickly.”

The town of 4,000 has enlisted the expertise of well drillers and others familiar with municipal wells, he said.

“Crews are working at the wells to determine why the wells are not feeding our treatment plant,” Jacobson said. “It’s a mechanical error not a human error. We’re learning from that, and hopefully we’ll get to the root of the issue. Water is a very huge concern for everybody.”

For now, the Town of Swan River is bringing in a semi-tractor trailer full of bottled water and a bulk-water truck to distribute water to people in town. The town has asked members of the community and the Kinsmen Club to go door to door with flyers to notify shut-ins or people not connected to social media.

A spokeswoman who answered the phone at the town office Sunday afternoon said they expect to run out of water Sunday night. She said she expected a boil-water advisory would be issued later Sunday. She said they’re advising residents to watch the town’s website for updates and to listen to the local radio station.

If the water problem can’t be solved in the short run, the Canadian Red Cross has been notified and is prepared to help, Jacobson said.

The Prairie Mountain Health regional authority said it has activated its incident-command system to assess the impact on health-care sites in Swan River and to plan a co-ordinated regional response to ensure the safe provision of health-care services continues.

“Some immediate measures being taken include transferring potable water and other supplies to priority areas, which include the hospital and personal care homes,” chief executive officer Penny Gilson said in an email.

The region is also moving to conserve water, including a review of its meal-planning options and the use of disposable tableware (plates, cups, cutlery, etc.), Gilson said. A plan to transfer laundry services to Dauphin Regional Health Centre is also underway.

Prairie Mountain will continue to monitor the impact on services and work closely with Manitoba Health’s Office of Disaster Management and the Town of Swan River, said Gilson.

The provincial government issued a statement Sunday afternoon saying it has not received a formal request for help but is “treating this situation seriously.”

Several government departments, including Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization are monitoring problems with Swan River’s water-distribution system closely and have been in regular contact with officials since the state of emergency was declared, the province said in its statement.

Swan River is about 500 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca