Persistent rainfall has dirtied the water in the North Saskatchewan River, and the company that cleans it for people to drink in the capital region is having a hard time keeping up.
“What we saw at the height of things late last night was that we simply weren’t making enough water to meet demand,” EPCOR spokesperson Tim Le Riche said on Friday.
Heavy rainfall to the west over the past week led to a four-metre rise in the river, and increased the flow rate by four times.
“When you get that much water rushing down the North Saskatchewan River, it picks up all kinds of debris from the banks and branches, logs, rocks even, and digs up the silt off the bottom,” Le Riche said. “Because the water’s dirty, the water plants have to work harder to clean it.
That forces the plants to slow down, he said.
EPCOR first asked municipalities and industry to cut back on water usage, then put a plea out to the public.
The company wants people in Edmonton, Sherwood Park, St. Albert, Stony Plain, Spruce Grove, Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan not to water lawns or wash their cars in their driveways. It’s also requesting that they delay doing laundry, take shorter showers and turn the tap off when they brush their teeth or shave.
“The plants are making clean, potable water, the water is safe to drink,” Le Riche said. “But we just need more time to replenish the reservoirs so that we can get ahead of the situation now.”
The Edmonton region has 12 reservoirs that can hold water for a day or two.
Though the river has crested and the biggest rush of water has likely passed, there’s more rain in the forecast next week.