Williams Lake Residents Urged to Continue Reducing Water Use

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake:

Courtesy of the City of Williams Lake 

The City of Williams Lake is asking residents to continue moderating their water use as crews rush to fix a ruptured sewer line break in the River Valley.

City water infrastructure has not been affected, and municipal water is still safe to drink. However, residents are urged to keep baths, showers, laundry, dishwashing and even flushing their toilets to a minimum after high water flows caused a stress crack in a sewer pipe just before noon on Sunday and washed out a section of road, restricting access to the site.

The river valley is experiencing a one-in-two-hundred-year flow rate in the creek and reducing water use will help to temporarily slow the flow of sewage through the affected pipe.

“Putting off non-essential laundry and other household activities will help us buy some time as we work to fix this critical infrastructure,” said City of Williams Lake Chief Administrative Officer Milo MacDonald. “We are working as quickly as we can to mitigate this situation and want to thank residents for their cooperation during this time.”

City crews are on site to assess the situation and are also communicating with provincial and federal officials to evaluate potential solutions.

The City typically produces about 80 litres of effluent per second. The sewage being released into the creek has been partly treated through grit removal.

Residents will be advised as soon as the repairs have been completed.

For more information, please call the EOC at 250-392-2364 or 250-392-4321