The cold, snowy weather this winter has been especially troublesome for some residents of the Parkland neighbourhood in Gibsons.
Parkland is served by a Town-owned geothermal utility, but a leak in the system has left some homes without heat from the geothermal source. The Town says the affected homes all have some type of backup heat source.
Town CAO Emanuel Machado told Coast Reporter the Town has been working to address the problem.
“We noticed the leak in the system just before Christmas time,” Machado said. “We fixed that leak, but in the meantime it caused a loss of pressure in the system and some loss of the ethanol-based solution [used for geothermal heat exchangers]. That caused issues for the homeowners, and their heat exchangers have not been working well because of that.”
Machado said Town crews have been working to replace the lost solution and re-establish the correct pressure in the system to get heat flowing again, but the job still isn’t finished. He also said that with the colder temperatures, the system was under more demand, but the Town doesn’t know yet if the weather contributed to the breakdown.
Mayor Wayne Rowe addresses the issue in his February Mayor’s Message, which was due to be posted on the Town website this week.
“We apologize to those affected, especially for the fact that our resolution of the issue was not as timely as we might have wished,” Rowe said. “Staff will be reviewing all aspects of this incident to ensure we make improvements to minimize the chances of this happening again; in addition, ongoing training is being provided to enhance our skills in operating and maintaining this system. We are also working with local plumbing contractors and homeowners in Parkland to ensure we all have a solid understanding of our respective roles.”
A report on the breakdown of the geothermal system, and recommendations to prevent it from happening again, should come to council in the next few weeks.
