While taps might be dry in the short term, some residents in Erin’s Mountainview subdivision may be short of drinking water for a bit longer.
There has been some concern raised in town over the past week about possible impacts from the hydrant installations.
On Nov. 5, council received a report from water superintendent Frank Smedley.
In that report, Smedley asked council to encourage staff to work with members of the public to resolve issues with water operation and to avoid misinformation being circulated.
Smedley noted the installation of four hydrants in the Mountainview subdivision was scheduled to begin on Oct. 28.
On Oct. 24, information sheets were distributed to advise the 41 affected subdivision residents.
Smedley said the attached information sheets “clearly state to contact the water department staff (at 519-855-4407) if they have any questions.”
He noted that variations of this form have been used in the past “and to the best of my knowledge, we have never experienced a problem.”
On Oct. 25, Smedley received an email stating the hydrant work was being postponed until the following Wednesday due to the required parts not being available.
On Oct. 28, Smedley contacted the contractor for updated information as to when the job would commence. At that time, work was postponed to this week.
Smedley said that on Oct. 28, council and staff received an email from Ken Chapman dated Oct. 27. Smedley said he responded to the email and asked Chapman to contact him directly to discuss the matter.
“I did not receive any response from him,” said Smedley.
Then, on Oct. 28, Smedley received a call from Tim Barney of the Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health Unit, who Smedley said had been contacted by Chapman.
“I discussed the situation with the health unit and they did not have a problem with our process,” Smedley said.
“I stated that I was going to be handing out an updated information flyer to clarify the situation in regards to the postponement of the job. Barney sent a handout that the health Unit uses in order to assist in the rewording of the information handout.”
Smedley added that using the latest information, input from the contractor, as well as wording suggestions from the health unit, a revised handout was sent to residents – including the new start date.
Smedley noted that on Oct. 29, an MOE (Ministry of Environment) inspector was at the water department office “as part of our annual inspections.”
At that time, the Mountainview hydrant situation was discussed, as were Chapman’s concerns.
“The inspector did not have any concerns with our procedures,” said Smedley.
At the special council meeting on Oct. 29, Chapman had asked to speak. However, special meeting agendas are generally not amended because those meetings are called to deal with specific issues.
After not being able to address council at the meeting, Chapman provided his information to local media representatives.
On Oct. 30, Smedley said he received a call from the MOE inspector who stated Chapman had once again called the MOE.
At that time, Smedley said he was told that Chapman would be handing out his own information sheets to the affected residents.
“The town of Erin water department staff work very hard to instill confidence in municipal water operations,” Smedley told council. “This is evident by our recent 100% rating as noted in the detailed MOE inspection.”
Smedley said considering the municipality is directly responsible for providing safe drinking water to the residents of Erin, this rating is something council should be proud of.
He added Chapman was the water representative when he served on local council and is now the town’s county councillor.
Smedley contends Chapman should have spoken with him before he submitting information about the water department to the public.
Smedley stressed that a water shutdown does not create an adverse water situation.
“However, the town must follow set operating procedure that outlines not drinking the water until satisfactory samples are received,” he said.
Smedley added that the same form has been used in other instances such as watermain breaks.
Smedley continued, “However, for some reason, Ken [Chapman] decided he didn’t like the form or something, so he sent an email to council with a list of items he wasn’t pleased with; then called the health unit and the MOE. Of course, he didn’t call me, which is exactly what the [original] form requested.”
Smedley said he’s talked to representatives of the MOE and local health units and, “They have no problem with our procedures.”
He added the job ended up being postponed, so additional handouts to residents were distributed.
“I did call him, but he refused to talk to me,” Smedley said of Chapman.
He added that as of early Monday (Nov. 4) Chapman had yet to speak with him.
Smedley said, “We’re going ahead to do the job as per our procedures. When the water samples come back we will inform the residents.
“It is not part of our procedure to issue residents drinking water and this has not been a problem in the past. This is dealt with on a case-by-case basis.”
However, Smedley added that if bottled water is requested by affected residents, it can be delivered.
“That has always been the case if people needed it,” Smedley said, noting that is why the form included contact information if residents has issues. “I don’t know why [Chapman] got so upset in the beginning.”
Smedley hoped the work could proceed quickly and the results could come through quickly as well.
Chapman said he was originally concerned because he believed the Oct. 25 notice did not provide sufficient time for residents to prepare.
That is why Chapman wanted to make a presentation at the Oct. 29 council session.
He expressed health and safety concerns regarding the use of the town water since the flyer stated that until test results came back, water should only be used for washing and bathing – not drinking.
Since this work is expected to take three days, with the addition of five working days for testing, Chapman contends the residents of the Mountainview subdivision will be without safe drinking water for a minimum of ten days (which includes the two day weekend and assumes the work started on Monday).
Chapman wondered whether the Ministry of Health has been contacted regarding fast tracking the testing of the water samples and whether the samples will be hand delivered.
He also questioned whether the Ministry of Health was informed that 41 homes will be without safe drinking water for an extended period of time.
In a later telephone interview Chapman told the Advertiser the original flyer only provided minimal information.
Now, Chapman said, the town will be providing water to the residents. He said one of his concerns had been Smedley’s email, which suggested the town did not have to supply water.
“I checked with the ministry and they said that the town has to provide [the affected] residents with fresh drinking water,” said Chapman.
However, even now, Chapman said the water is only going to be supplied “… on request.”
Chapman acknowledged the water will likely only be shut off for four or five hours.
“We can get over that,” he said. “But 10 days is a long time without being able to drink the water.”
