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Chlorine-free water could be on tap by mid-2015

Gibsons
newman
Town of Gibsons director of engineering Dave Newman.

The Town of Gibsons municipal water system could be distributing unchlorinated water by the middle of next year if council decides to budget the necessary improvements, the Town said Monday in a water system update.

On Sept. 5, staff met with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) officials who “provided the Town options for moving forward with either a chlorinated or unchlorinated system for Zones 1 and 2; both subject to the satisfactory completion of a series of improvements to our water system,” the update said.

Some of the items VCH identified were completed during the past three months and others are part of the Town’s five-year capital plan.

Staff will present a report outlining the implications of each option to council’s committee of the whole on Sept. 30. Cost estimates and timelines will be included in the report.

“If council’s direction is to revert to an unchlorinated system, and funding is made available in the 2015 budget, the improvements could take place by mid-2015,” the update said.

VCH officials are scheduled to attend the Sept. 30 meeting. The location for the meeting will be announced on the Town website at www.gibsons.ca

During inquiries at Tuesday night’s committee of the whole meeting, resident Malcolm Fullwood asked if an independent consultant was being retained to oversee the water system review.

“Pretty much from the get-go we’ve had an independent consultant involved, and that’s Urban Systems,” director of engineering Dave Newman said.

VCH ordered the Town to chlorinate its water supply after E.coli contamination was detected in the Parkland reservoir in early June.

Newman reiterated Tuesday that the Gibsons aquifer had not been contaminated.