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Water treatment in sight, but damage done

Pemberton’s Creekside Village dealing with ‘cancer of the plumbing’

Drilling of a second well in Pemberton began this week, and plans to start treating the Village of Pemberton’s water sources are in the works.

But Rob Szachury, owner of Turbo Plumbing, says many residents in Pemberton are still having problems with their plumbing, as the VoP’s untreated, corrosive water is reacting with brass fittings, causing leaks and flooding.

Szachury says the pH problem began when Pemberton switched from surface water to ground water in 1997.

According to the VoP’s website, Pemberton’s drinking water has a pH level of 6.55, which just falls under acceptable guidelines for Canadian drinking water quality, which range from 6.5 to 8.5.

A report prepared for the village by Earth Tech consultants states water with a pH level below 6.5 “can result in leaching of undesirable compounds from the plumbing and piping systems of water distribution systems.”

The report also compares Pemberton’s water quality with the Capilano Reservoir drawn on by the Greater Vancouver Regional District, pointing out that the latter is actually more corrosive than Pemberton’s source.

But water from Capilano is treated with sodium hypochlorite to reduce the natural corrosiveness.

Earth Tech’s report, which was prepared last October, also made several suggestions for treatment of Pemberton’s water supply to reduce pH.

Mayor Jordan Sturdy acknowledges Pemberton’s water is on the low end of the scale, and says they plan to implement treatment and conditioning on the new and old wells concurrently to raise the pH level to a more mid-range level.

So why hasn’t Pemberton been treating its water? Basically, it would have cost too much money.

Sturdy says the village would have first had to implement a temporary system, then a permanent system to house a treatment facility, which would have effectively doubled the costs.

“If we had additional resources, we would have dealt with this at some time in the past… but you have to make choices, and the choices are not always easy.”

Sturdy explained the village’s focus has been on finding a secondary water source. Right now, they are running on one well, and if that failed, the town would only have an 8 to 12 hour water supply.

“That’s the number one priority… as long as we have water, we could boil it or do whatever we had to do. But if you don’t have water, you’re hooped.”

However, the village is planning to treat all of its water once the new well, which they began drilling on Tuesday, is connected to the old water source.

The entire project will cost about $800,000, and while the VoP has applied for provincial and federal grants to help cover the costs, they won’t find out if their funding has been approved until around Christmastime.

“Nonetheless, it is something that we will remedy in the near future, because we can’t have ongoing problems like this,” said Sturdy.

But Szachury says treating the water supply won’t fix damage that already exists in some pipes.

“It’s like cancer of the plumbing. All of the fittings are all still punch-holed and they’ve all got, say, 10 per cent of the wall thickness left in them. Sorting the water out today isn’t going to fix that wall thickness. Places are still going to have to be re-piped.”

And he is frustrated by the delays in dealing with the problem.

“Every time they wait, more damage is caused.”

Scott Schober is managing partner of Whistler Resort Management, the company that manages the Creekside Village strata, which has been particularly hard-hit by corrosive water issues, including burst pipes.

“It is continuing. It happens in waves, it seems — all of a sudden you get three or four in a row, and then you get nothing for months,” said Schober.

But he is pleased with the way strata members have handled the problem, forming their own committee to specifically address the issue. The committee has begun to put money aside to deal with emergency repairs as they arise. The funding is over and above the strata’s contingency funds.

“Because they know that they’re dealing with this stuff on an annual basis, it’s not really contingency anymore. It’s actually more factored right into their budget,” said Schober.

They are also pushing to move water tanks downstairs to the garage, so they can begin to work their way up to improving each unit.

“…They want to move the hot water tanks from the upstairs into the garage, and run new pipes from the garage — just because they can cut corners, they can get to the fittings a little easier and save some money, in terms of the drywall they’d have to remove,” Schober explained.

It would also prevent major flood damage if the water tank fails, which is common in Pemberton because of high mineral content in the water.

However a flood plane covenant currently in place is preventing them from moving the tanks, though Schober says the committee is hoping the village will allow them to move forward.

“They feel, and rightfully so, that the village should be lending out a hand to the strata corporation, as it is the untreated water that is the cause of the problem.”

Schober says many people in the Creekside complex are first-time owners, so flooding expenses are particularly difficult for them.

“There’s an understanding that the village doesn’t have the money right now for that infrastructure, but at the same time, the owners are taking a financial hit.”

They have considered retrofitting the entire complex, but it would be costly, because each unit would have to be completely re-piped and restored.

Szachury says last year, he and a local construction company quoted a price of $1.8 million to retrofit Creekside Village, and costs would only have increased since then.

The strata corporation put the VoP on notice earlier this year to ensure they were aware of this issue, and has placed lawyers on retainer, but are hoping they won’t have to resort to legal action.