City imposes watering ban for June 12-16

A watering ban will be in effect in Prince George beginning Monday, June 12 at noon and going through until Friday, June 16 in the evening.

You’ll still be able to use watering cans and hand held hoses during this time but sprinklers and unattended hoses will be a no go.

The ban comes as the City completes a year long, $3 million project to connect two of its major wells in an effort to improve the reliability of the water supply.

The work will affect pump PW605.

“While this work takes place, the pump cannot be operating and usually this provides the largest amount of water out of any of the city’s wells,” says Hayley Sedola, Engineering Supervisor. “While it’s out of service, we’re putting a higher strain on all of the rest of our water sources and we’re also using a temporary pump.”

This will impact city’s water supply so a reduction in water use is needed.

Here’s Hayley Sedola with the City’s Engineering Department, explaining the project:

“What we want that supply to be used for is for people in their homes but we also need to make sure that we can maintain an availability for fire protection,” says Gina layte Liston, Director of Public Works. “That is one of our things that we always take into account for any of these types of projects.”

The connection of the two wells will help protect the water supply from future mechanical failures and contamination from spills.

You may still see some sprinklers in the City though. Some private properties, like the Prince George Golf and Curling Club, have their own private wells to continue watering from. The City may also continue to water sports fields and newly planted areas on City property that “cannot be watered by hand.”

However, households that break the ban “frequently” could end up with a $100 fine.