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July 25, 2012
End in sight for Oyama’s chronic ‘boil water’ advisory
Inside
BOBBI-SUE MENARD
Great gardens The beautification of Lake Country is in the good hands of businesses and residents. ...............................
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Piching in Camp Hatikvah kids tidied up the community alongside folks from Brain Trust Canada. ...............................
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Everyone gets arthritis It’s what you do about it and when you do it that matters says physiotherapist Graham Gillies. ...............................
Flyers â– JYSK â– Rona
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Most Lake Country residents have probably already adjusted their driving habits for the Lodge Road roundabout construction, but the Kalamalka Lake Interconnect (KLI) project will have a larger transformational effect on the people the project services. The KLI is part of the Water Master Plan for Lake Country. It is a $5.04-million infrastructure upgrade that is designed to end the boil water advisory that has been in place for the Oyama Creek system customers since 2010. Funding for the projects is shared between the district, the province and the federal government. The project was put to tender this spring and construction began in May, with completion expected spring 2013. The KLI has three main components—a UV water treatment and capacity upgrade to the Kal Lake Pump Station; construction of a booster station at a midpoint
elevation; and the new Oyama Creek Reservoir complete with chlorination systems and intake. The multi-part project addresses several concerns for the area. The first is water quality. The current chlorination facility is located too close to some end users. Chlorine requires a certain amount of contact time with the organisms in water to work effectively. Homes located too close to the chlorine station essentially derived none of the benefits of the chlorine because there was no transit time for the chemical to work. In addition, the chlorine system had reliability issues. It is a routine part of life for farms on the Oyama Bench to register their water usage, but in the event of a miscalculation or sudden spike in demand, the system would run out of water. Such occurrences sent district staff scrambling into the orchards to find shut off valves to decrease consumption immediately and get the system back on track. “We still have to do
DOUG FARROW/CONTRIBUTOR
GREG BUCHHOLZ explains the flow of water in the old water treatment plant directly across from the new plant being built on Oyama Creek. water rounds every day and control the water supply,� explained Greg Buchholz, operations manager with the district. The new reservoir, located above Oyama next to Oyama Creek, will solve many of the reliability problems. Tucked into the hillside, the new six-meter high reservoir will be completely covered and has an expected lifespan of about 100 years. Right next to the
new reservoir, a new selfcleaning screen house and chlorination facilities are being installed. The chlorination facility is far enough away from end-users that the chemical will have time to maximize its effectiveness. Built in the 1960s, the current system on Oyama Creek has a passive screening process that filters out the chunky bits that come with water run-off.
There is no storage capacity, so if demand exceeds supply in the creek during the later summer months, arbitrary consumption limits are needed. “Currently we can run the system, but we can’t up volume for demand,� Buchholz said. As Oyama grows, demand increases. Buchholz said water studies about agriculture consumption show orchardists in Oyama are in line
with regional consumption rates. The new system is meant to compliment the water intake from Kalamalka Lake. The two water sources will work in tandem to meet consumption requirements. To guarantee the water quality from Kalamalka Lake, the district is installing a UV light filtration system at the Kalamalka Lake pump house. During low demand the interconnected system will be able to provide UV and chlorine disinfected water to the entire Oyama service area. When demand spikes, the new reservoir is ready to meet the needs of the community. The new system should be operational next spring. Once construction is complete, Buchholz said residents and water consumers will have a huge bump in their water quality. “We are hoping to eliminate boil water notices for Oyama,� Buchholz said.
RCMP report: Alcohol to blame for a lot of bad behaviour BOBBI-SUE MENARD The number of assaults in Lake Country was higher by 130 per cent in the second quarter of 2012 year over year. During the April, May and June of 2011, 10 assaults were recorded. In 2012, 23 assaults were recorded for the same time period. The theme of the increase is alcohol, said Lake Country RCMP Sgt. Scott Rempel. But assaults were only one piece of the picture presented to council last week by Rempel.
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Setting aside impaired driving offences where the statistics do not match up historically due to the changes in provincial law, the most significant statistical drop was the 43 per cent drop in drug offenses. The drop in drug offences masks a very busy year for the Lake Country RCMP in dealing with marijuana grow operations. In his report to council, Rempel pointed out that more pot plants were seized in Lake Country than in Richmond and West Kelowna combined. In an interview following the report, Rempel said the pace of grow-op busts has been exhausting for the local force.
The grow-ops have been found in a about a 50/50 mix of home ownership and rental situations. Most have been stealing BC Hydro power and have been growing for export to Alberta and the U.S. “The larger grow-ops are purely a source of tax free cash,� Rempel said, noting the RCMP seized plants and thousands of dollars worth of equipment. In other categories, Lake County crime stat totals tend to have such low numbers, a small increase in incidents can have a large percentage increase. Spousal assaults stayed the same in the
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second quarter at seven incidents. Domestic disputes were up 50 per cent with nine incidents in 2012—three more than in 2011. Again, Rempel said alcohol was the theme. For homeowners living on or nearby the water, while the number of boaters on the lakes has increased, the number of calls and complaints to the RCMP were down. A slightly larger presence of volunteers in the community policing program patrolling local beaches helped keep a lid on rowdy behaviour and illegal bonfires, Rempel added.
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