Water quality advisory extended for Okanagan Falls lower zone

A water quality advisory has been extended for the lower zone of the Okanagan Falls water system.

Announced earlier this week, the Regional District for Okanagan Similkameen (RDOS) says the advisory for manganese will remain in place until further notice.

The regional district says it “recognizes that residents in the lower zone are continuing to encounter poor water quality and the RDOS is working on making changes to the water system with the anticipation of long-term improvements to the water quality.”

The RDOS says it’s also working on one well in the zone, but that affected residents are advised to use a safe source of drinking water in the meantime.

Maintenance work on one well, No. 5, is complete, including parts replacement plus cleaning and disinfecting.

Another well, No. 2, has been removed from service, with the RDOS saying the change has resulted in some minor changes in water flow, resulting in sediments being stirred up, affecting water quality.

The RDOS says the plan is to have the lower zone supplied solely by well No. 5, “which does not have issues that well No. 2 has with elevated iron and manganese.”

The regional district added that preliminary findings indicate that well No. 5 can likely meet the lower zone demand for the majority of the year, though further flow testing will be conducted during the next two weeks.

But to accommodate the flow testing, the RDOS says it will also be completing its annual watermain flushing, with that program slated to take place during the last week of March.

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