By Geoff Smith

Battleford to supplement city’s water supply

Jul 28, 2016 | 2:00 PM

North Battleford’s neighbours across the river will be providing a helping hand during the ongoing response to the oil spill in the North Saskatchewan.

Sam Ferris, an official with the Water Security Agency, said treated water from the Town of Battleford’s groundwater treatment plant will start flowing to the city “within the next few days.” Ferris explained the town has extra capacity, which it can use to help North Battleford.

“It won’t top the North Battleford system up to what would be able to cope with normal summer demand, but it is an improvement,” Ferris said. “It’s going to give them a little bit more of a margin at this time.”

The Battle River had also been considered as a raw water source but Ferris said tapping into the town’s system was easier.

“You’re going to be bringing in treated water of known quality, pushing it into the F.E. Holliday surface water treatment plant clear well, probably re-chlorinating (it),” he explained. “It’s easier and it’s faster, quite frankly, and it’s closer.”

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North Battleford’s F.E. Holliday Water Treatment was closed Saturday morning to prevent contaminated water from entering. The city is under mandatory conservation measures while it relies on ground water from Treatment Plant Number One.

Measures, which include the shutdown of laundromats and car washes, could be in place for another week, according to Susanne Abe, a spokesperson for the city of North Battleford. She said it would take at least that long to sign an agreement with the town of Battleford and install the pipeline and pumps.

“I’m not sure if we can lift that entirely, or if we’re kind of restricted a little bit, but it’ll be a big relief for all residents and all the businesses,” Abe said adding it was only a short-to-medium term solution.

Ferris said three Water Security Agency staffers are working with the city and consulting engineers on alternate sources. More wells may also be added to feed the treatment plant, which has some unused capacity. A filtration system is still being looked at, as river conditions improve.

Geoff Smith is battlefordsNOW’s News Director, business and agriculture reporter. He can be reached at gsmith@jpbg.ca or tweet him @smithco.