UPDATE 10:42 am:

City of Kamloops crews say they are now within feet of the damaged southeast sector water main as critical repairs continue Thursday morning in east Kamloops.

Public Works Divisional Manager Joe Luison said crews began excavation work around 6 a.m. after reservoir levels stabilized overnight enough to safely proceed with repairs.

Luison said residents in affected neighbourhoods complied with requests to stop using water Thursday morning, helping maintain reservoir levels while crews work.

“So far, the reservoirs are holding well, so I want to thank the residents of Kamloops,” Luison said. “At this point, we feel we definitely have a big enough window to do the repair.”

As of mid-morning, crews had excavated to roughly 14 feet underground and were nearly at the damaged pipe, which sits approximately 15 feet below the surface.

The city says crews plan to remove a larger section of the damaged concrete feeder main and replace it with upgraded PVC pipe specially fabricated and delivered from the Lower Mainland.

Officials are currently working within an eight-hour repair window while residents remain under strict water-use restrictions.

Luison said if repairs are successful Thursday, restoring potable drinking water service across east Kamloops will still take several days as crews move into system flushing and water-quality testing.

“Right now, the fix is hours. The transitioning to potable water is days,” he said.

Emergency potable water trucks remain available at Valleyview Arena, Dallas Park, the BC Wildlife Park and Fire Hall 6. The city says those sites will remain operational until the emergency is over.

UPDATE, May 14, 6:00 am:

Crews are undertaking critical repairs to the southeast sector water main today (Thursday, May 14) from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. During this time, all impacted areas are being asked to temporarily cease water use to help ensure water service can resume following the repair.

The City of Kamloops thanked residents for their continued cooperation and support.

Potable (safe drinking) water trucks will remain available 24 hours a day through 11:59 pm on Friday, May 15, at the following locations:

• Valleyview Arena — 353 Highland Rd.
• Dallas Park — 5998 Todd Hill Rd.
• BC Wildlife Park — 9077 Dallas Dr.
• Fire Hall 6 — 5300 Dallas Dr.

Beginning Saturday, May 16, potable water will be available daily from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm for a minimum of five days at:

• Fire Hall 6 — 5300 Dallas Dr.
• Valleyview Arena — 353 Highland Rd.

Residents are asked to bring their own containers and may collect up to 100 litres of water per visit.

Schools will continue to have access to water to maintain operations.

UPDATE 4:32 pm:

Interior Health says extensive testing and ongoing monitoring will be required before east Kamloops residents can safely drink tap water again following the major feeder main break that disrupted water service this week.

Speaking Wednesday afternoon, Interior Health Medical Health Officer Andy Delli-Pizzi said the primary concern following a water main break and pressure loss is the potential for contaminants to enter the water distribution system through backflow or breaches in pipe integrity.

“When there’s a loss of integrity of the water distribution system, there could be leakage from soil or, theoretically, intrusion from nearby sewage infrastructure,” Delli-Pizzi explained. “This is precautionary, but even a small level of risk is too high when it comes to public health.”

Delli-Pizzi emphasized there are currently no known illnesses connected to the outage and no confirmed chemical contamination in the water supply. However, he said Interior Health and the City of Kamloops are taking a cautious approach while crews continue restoring and repressurizing the system.

Once pressure is fully restored, the city and Interior Health drinking water officers will begin a series of water quality tests, including microbiological testing for bacteria and viruses, as well as chemical analysis to ensure the system is safe.

The current “Do Not Consume” order remains in place for affected neighbourhoods, meaning residents should not drink tap water or use it for cooking, brushing teeth, making ice, washing food or providing to pets. Officials say boiling water will not make it safe if chemical contaminants are present.

Residents are still permitted to use the water for bathing, showering, flushing toilets and general hygiene, though Delli-Pizzi advised parents of young children to take extra precautions to ensure toddlers do not accidentally ingest tap water.

“If people prepared food or made ice after the notices were issued, it’s best to discard those items,” he said.

Delli-Pizzi said Interior Health has also been working closely with child care facilities, vulnerable home health clients and local food establishments to help interpret the restrictions and maintain safe operations during the outage.

Officials have previously warned it could take anywhere from several days to up to two weeks before all water quality advisories are fully lifted in some areas of east Kamloops.

The City of Kamloops has now confirmed that water service has been restored in all affected areas, including Barnhartvale, for essential use only.

As a result, all six affected schools in east Kamloops will be open for regular classes beginning Thursday, May 14.

RL Clemitson Elementary, which remained closed Wednesday due to ongoing water service issues, will reopen for students and staff Thursday.

The following schools, which reopened Wednesday, will also remain open:
• Dallas Elementary
• Ralph Bell Elementary
• Juniper Ridge Elementary
• Marion Schilling Elementary
• Valleyview Secondary

Regular school bus service will be provided for students at all affected schools. Drinking water stations will continue to be available at schools for as long as needed.

The city is posting updates on water restrictions here.

UPDATE 12:09 pm:

The City of Kamloops says essential water service has now been temporarily restored to some east Kamloops neighbourhoods as crews continue work on a damaged feeder main.

In a Wednesday afternoon update, the city said reservoirs were replenished overnight and crews successfully cleared air from pipelines, allowing water service to return for limited use in parts of the affected area.

Residents in Juniper Ridge and Rose Hill are now under a “Do Not Drink or Consume and Conserve Water” restriction.

Officials say tap water in affected areas is not safe for drinking, cooking, brushing teeth, washing food or providing to pets, and boiling the water will not make it safe.

Water can still be used for bathing, showering, flushing toilets and household cleaning, although residents are being asked to continue conserving water wherever possible.

The city warned another shorter water shutdown will likely be needed later this week as crews complete permanent repairs to the damaged main.

“Our minds from the council are on our residents who this has been extraordinarily disruptive for and stressful and frustrating, and that’s perfectly understandable,” said Councillor Katie Neustaeter, who is the Deputy Mayor of Kamloops for May.   “No one ever expects for school to unexpectedly be canceled, so the City always regrets when these sorts of things happen.”

All schools have resumed operations except RL Clemitson Elementary in Barnhartvale, which remains closed due to ongoing water service issues.

While water services are partially restored for some, the entire east Kamloops water supply was shut down for around 12-hours on Tuesday as the City noted that over use of water, even after an appeal by municipal authorities for people to conserve water, went largely unheeded.

“There is water running in the taps right now because people did stop doing those unnecessary activities,” Neustaeter noted. “So things like showers are possible…you can flush your toilet.”

However, she notes the resumption does not mean the water is safe for consumption.

“It is non-potable water still, and we’ll wait on the City experts to update us about when it’s possible to consume that again, but it won’t be immediately,” she added.

Emergency potable water distribution sites will remain open 24 hours a day at Valleyview Arena, Dallas Park and the BC Wildlife Park through Friday night.

The City had originally planned to open a 4-hour window starting on Saturday to provide potable water at the same locations for those who may not regain access to safe water immediately.

Those are expected to be people living in more rural areas of east Kamloops, who could find themselves under a “do-not-consume” order for a number of days, even after the water main is fixed.

Residents are asked to bring their own containers and may collect up to 100 litres of drinking water per visit.

ORIGINAL:
City of Kamloops officials say they hope to restore water service to thousands of properties east of Rose Hill Road by Wednesday night, after repair efforts on a critical feeder main failed Tuesday and left much of east Kamloops without reliable water service.

City officilas said Wednesday morning, that a decision on restoring service could be made early in the afternoon if reservoir levels continue to recover.

City crews were preparing to excavate along River Street, where a broken water main valve first discovered Sunday led crews to locate a larger break in a 500-millimetre feeder main supplying east Kamloops. Public Works Divisional Manager Joe Luison said crews were assembling at the site Wednesday morning and would begin digging once officials were confident reservoir levels were stable enough to proceed.

The city said excavation work will only move ahead after reservoirs in Valleyview, Juniper Ridge, Dallas and Barnhartvale recover to acceptable levels following critically low levels reached Tuesday.

Officials also plan to gradually ease water restrictions once reservoir levels stabilize. Until then, residents on city water east of Rose Hill Road are still being instructed not to use water for any reason as crews work to rebuild pressure in the system.

The city plans to release additional information later Wednesday outlining which neighbourhoods could move forward under revised water-use restrictions and what advisories may apply once service returns.

The prolonged outage continues to affect approximately 19,000 residents and roughly 7,500 homes across east Kamloops.

The Kamloops-Thompson School District says RL Clemitson Elementary remains closed Wednesday because the school is still without water service. School buses for RL Clemitson students have also been cancelled for the day.

However, Dallas Elementary, Ralph Bell Elementary, Juniper Ridge Elementary, Marion Schilling Elementary and Valleyview Secondary reopened Wednesday for regular classes, with normal bus service operating for students attending those schools.

The district said water service has returned to the five reopened schools, but the water remains non-consumable. Drinking water stations have been set up at each school and will remain in place as long as necessary.

Reservoir levels dropped so low Tuesday that Kamloops Fire Rescue could no longer rely on hydrants in the affected area for fire suppression. Luison said water tenders were staged and prepared in case emergency response was needed while crews attempted repairs.

According to city officials, the water system was depleted because too many residents ignored voluntary and mandatory water restrictions issued earlier in the week, draining reservoirs faster than crews could maintain supply during repair operations.

Repair efforts Tuesday had initially raised hopes that water service could be restored by evening after crews located and began working on the damaged line roughly 12 feet underground. However, the city later announced the repairs were unsuccessful, forcing crews to shift to a more extensive repair plan extending into Wednesday.

The City of Kamloops has continued operating emergency potable water distribution sites at Valleyview Arena, Dallas Park and the BC Wildlife Park, with water trucks scheduled to remain in operation around the clock through Friday. Residents are being asked to bring their own containers for water collection.

Once service is restored, Interior Health and city officials are expected to issue a combination of boil water advisories and do-not-consume notices depending on location, with water quality testing and clearance potentially taking up to seven days in some areas.

–With files from Paul James