Flushing of water lines and a temporary increase in potassium permanganate have improved town water.

The Town of Drumheller has seen a major improvement in the water quality after taking measures to improve the  foul taste and odour.
    The Town’s Director of Infrastructure Services Allan Kendrick said the number of resident complaints has dwindled.
    “We still might have the odd pocket where its showing up on the hot water only.”
    He said that is probably due to the water sitting in the hot water tank, and also heating the water releases gases.
    Public Works has completed a number of line flushings, Kendrick said, and had to do another line flush in Huntington Hills, one of the areas that still has a pocket of concern.
    Kendrick explained due to its elevation, Huntington Hills has a booster pump to help the water pressure, and the line ends at a closed valve, which is a simulation of a dead-end line.
    In the normal water line systems through Drumheller, the water loops through the system, and the Town can open and close the valves as required. The looping system means the foul water gets flushed through more quickly than a simulated dead-end line, such as the one in Huntington Hills.
    Kendrick said the Town had also increased the level of potassium permanganate, used to treat the Town’s water, up to about 1 millgram per litre (mg/L).

    He said the potassium permanganate has been dropped down to its current .5 mg/L.
    On a regular day for Drumheller water, the level of potassium permanganate is .3 to .4 mg/L, adds Kendrick.
    Another measure the Town is taking is to keep a closer eye on the reservoirs.
    “It’s more aggressive visual  monitoring over at the rural water storage cells.  I think one of the things that was definitely  a contributing factor was  some of our monitoring equipment froze.”
    He said there was also a water crossover chamber that froze, and pumping water with the thick ice layer, sometimes seven feet thick on top, presents other challenges.
    He said the last water complaint received was Tuesday, from a Nacmine resident describing their water as swampy.