Okotoks’ utilities director said the Town regularly monitors the risk of infrastructure failure as people in Calgary continue to deal with the impacts of a major waterline break.
Jeremy Huet, operations and utilities director, was responding to a question from Coun. Brent Robinson, who asked during a recent council meeting what steps are being taken to minimize impacts if something similar were to occur in Okotoks.
Huet said the Town is ready to respond if needed.
“Hopefully through good planning, maintenance efforts, (risk) identifications, having current spare parts on hand, we can mitigate the chances of any of those incidents from occurring,” Huet said.
Most feeder mains in Okotoks are redundant, but breaks do occur, he said.
“We have two alternative methods to deliver water,” he said. “That said, there are a number of identified risks within our system.”
An infrastructure assessment is being done on all Town facilities this year, and leak detection has been stepped up to conserve water.
One receiving station is near the end of its lifespan, Huet said.
“We can’t really afford to take that station down,” he said. "The biggest major step we're doing on our well water, our supply security, is building that alternate supply from the confluence of the Bow and Highwood rivers.”
That project, the Foothills-Okotoks Regional water pipeline, is expected to be completed in 2026.
If a break were to occur in Okotoks, repair parts are readily available because the Town's water system is made up of smaller pipes than the two-metre diameter waterline that failed in Calgary, Huet said.
“Most of the repair parts are generally off the shelf,” he said.
In Calgary, repairs have been completed on the original break, but five other sections of line were identified for repairs and work is expected to take three to five weeks to complete, with some of the pipe needed to be shipped from San Diego, the City of Calgary said.
In the event of a water shortage, the Town of Okotoks added Step 5 to its Water Shortage Response Plan earlier this year, which restricts water for essential use only, allowing the Town to quickly communicate with residents, Huet said.
