New bulk water station to open in February

Stewart Payne,

By Justin Seward
Commentator/Courier

Water haulers in the County of Forty Mile will be enthuses to hear the new bulk water station by the Bow Island Airport will be open in February.
The last thing to be installed was a meter by Fortis Alberta on Jan. 16.
“Now we’re making schedules to finish up the commissioning of it. It’s all constructed, then we needed the power to get things running,” said Stewart Payne, County of Forty Mile utilities manager.
Payne says he has not seen a commissioning schedule yet, which he requested on Thursday but he is anticipating everything will be complete by the end of January and running by February.
“The county built bulk water stations in Burdett and Manyberries and because the county is operating this bulk water station we wanted it all the same so that the maintenance was the same (and) the program and administration of the billing was all the same,” said Payne.
The location is between the airport access road and Industrial Avenue E. and was in cooperation with the Town of Bow Island for access to the area.
“It’s right a long a range road that had access to landowners wihtout driving into the town,” he said.
“The county was building (it) but we also needed access to potable water, so we had to be fairly close to Bow Island.”
The town donated the land at no cost and a fire hydrant closer to the airport and the rest of the cost went to the county, he added.
A change is that there will be a side truck fill, where the farmers will be able to design their units so they do not have to crawl up on top and there will be no key as there will be an electronic pin pad access.
Farmers will have to call the county for access numbers and whatever volume is pumped into the truck, an invoice will be sent monthly.

Burdett
Payne told the Commentator that both the Burdett lagoon upgrade and the manhole sewer system collection upgrades were completed before Christmas.
The County also had to flush their distribution systems on the coldest day last week during the Burdett pumphouse upgrades due to depressurization.
The pumphouse upgrades were completed last Tuesday for stored water volume and pumping capabilities.
“We basically now have fire volumes and fire flows to fight structure fires,” said Payne.
Payne says crews were working in proximity of the pumphouse and were able to loop the distribution headers so there is not a length in one direction and now it comes right out of the pumphouse and ‘T’s right to two directions.

Pipeline
It will be a little while yet before the Foremost Water Treatment Plant pumps water from Orion to Manyberries.
“The pipelines are all contructed and in the ground but we need the contractor to comeback and do commissioning of Orion to Manyberries,” said Payne.
“Once that contractor returns and commissions the pipeline and then another contract has to come in and finish the upgrades at the pumphouse in Manyberries.”
The pumphouse is waiting for water through the pipeline, he added.
It is anticipated the projects will be done closer to summer.