As drought and water shortages continue across Vancouver Island, upgrades to the Mid-town Water Supply isn’t set to turn off any resident’s water during it.
Bill Sims, General Manager of Engineering & Public Works for the City of Nanaimo, says they don’t believe the upgrade’s construction will disrupt many residents’ ability to access water.
“People often take for granted— but expect— that their water is available any time, day or night. So, that demands a very robust backbone,” said Sims. When asked if nobody’s services would be disrupted, he chuckled, “that’s the intent, that’s the hope. We do reserve the right to have the occasional water main break and the occasional disruption of service.”
Sims states that the mid-town water supply is a ‘paralleling and replacement’ for the Bowen Road supply main.
“It creates this very solid backbone essentially from Fifth Avenue— or College Avenue depending on which side of the parkway you’re on— all the way up to the north end of Nanaimo. It creates that ability to be resilient and make sure we can continue to supply water through all conditions.”
In April of 2020, the Bowen Road main ‘blew up,’ causing major damage to the road.
“Just after the pandemic started, we had a very major water supply break on Bowen Road very close to the corner of Bowen and Dufferin, which is a very busy intersection. The water main essentially blew up, and blew up the road, creating quite a bit of damage. We were able to get it shut down and get it turned around within 48 hours, which was stellar performance, it was just amazing. I call it our ‘most successful failure ever,’ because it really impacted the ability for fire-protection or for drinking, and people were seriously impacted by it.”
Sims called the event a ‘stark reminder’ to ensure the robustness of the city’s infrastructure system.
The mid-town water supply is set to completely replace the old Bowen Road main with ‘the completion of the proposed Secondary Transmission watermains.’ The city promises that the upgrades will ‘improved water quality to all water consumers.’
More information about the project is available here.
