Steinbach water supply stable despite drought

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This article was published 18/05/2021 (1513 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While some municipalities are dealing with water restrictions due to drought issues, the City of Steinbach’s supply is stable according to Waterworks Manager Mike Heppner.

Heppner gave Steinbach city council an update on the water system along with a water plant tour as part of the Strategic Priorities Committee meeting last Tuesday.

He reassured councillors that the drought has no initial effect on the city’s water supply.

“We’re not effected by immediate runoff,” he explained. “We’re effected by long term saturation.”

That’s because unlike many other communities, Steinbach does not use surface water such as lakes or rivers for their water. Instead wells drilled into an aquifer supply the city’s needs.

Growth of the water system has kept up with growth of the city as well. Currently the city pumps just over half of the water it’s capable of pumping to meet their needs. Heppner thanked council for their commitment to ensuring the water system is upgraded at the conclusion of the plant tour.

Heppner also demonstrated the computer system technicians use to monitor the plant and pumping stations remotely, and shared the success of recent changes, such as the move to remote read water meters, a project that was completed in 2019.

Heppner said when Steinbach had a population of 5,500 people and 2,500 water meters, it took over two weeks for two people to read all the meters.

Now, with a population of around 18,000 and 5,200 meters, one person can accomplish the task in 7.5 hours.

“That’s been a huge success for our department,” he explained.

Heppner also led council through the upcoming maintenance and repair projects which include attention paid to lift stations and pumps.

He told council the water tower, which was supposed to be painted last summer, will see the project completed this year. Last year’s project was not completed because the wrong colour paint was provided, which would have given the water tower a more turquoise hue.