Holyrood hopes to find the leaks faster

By Craig Westcott / July 7, 2023

Summertime, and the leaking is easy. In Holyrood, anyway.

For years the town council and staff have been tested by water shortages, watermain breaks, and dry wells. Summer 2023 is no exception.

At last week’s council meeting, infrastructure and public works committee chairman Steve Windsor thanked staff for their quick responses to four separate water line breaks the week before.

“I didn’t expect that we would see so many in such a short period of time, but thankfully, this was a wet season,” he said.

Fortunately, the leaks occurred as the town was coming off a wet spring, noted Windsor, who allowed it would have been more challenging had it occurred later in the summer when people are filling their swimming pools and hosing down their lawns and cars. That might have incurred a water ban and might even have affected the fire department.

“Some leaks were at the south side, which is a 1971 vintage pipe system,” Windsor said. “The other one, which is newer, but lost more water was on Tappen’s Hill. That’s an 8-inch line there and we lost a tremendous amount of water. It took almost a full week to replenish the tank to normal operating levels. If that was in July or August, we’d have a big problem on our hands.”

Windsor said it’s another reminder to council to set aside money in the budget every year to replace aging infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, to help crews respond to water leaks more effectively, council last week approved a motion to buy a leak detection system. The Town is applying to the federal government to use $14,294 in gas tax money to purchase the system.

“This equipment will enable staff to locate water leaks and begin repairs in a more timely manner,” said councillor Sadie King, who made the motion on behalf of the public works committee. “This will reduce the length of time water is being lost as well as the length of time and resources to correct the problem.”

Councillor Curtis Buckle welcomed the purchase. “A lot of times we’re waiting for resources to come into the town from outside (to address the leaks), and hiring someone to come in,” he said. “And if they’re busy in another town, then we’re waiting and waiting, and as we’re waiting it means the water is leaking, and the tank is dropping… It takes a week, or weeks for the thing to replenish. So, this is something that is a ‘wish’ that the Town needs and it’s very important, and I think this is a great motion here tonight, to get this equipment for our Town staff to be able to go out and find the water leaks. Hats off to the public works committee for bringing forward this motion tonight, I’m very supportive of it.”

Mayor Gary Goobie said he doesn’t view the purchase as a cost, but as a wise investment. “Because for many years, as councillor Buckle said, we always experienced leaks, and sometimes it’s a prolonged period before a company can come in, and the tank drops. And sometimes these leaks can take an extended period of time, because what they do is take it in sections and basically narrow it down,” said the mayor. “So, there’s no reason we can’t have our own piece of equipment. It will pay for itself over time. But not only that, it will allow our public works staff, when time allows, to take a proactive approach where they can actually go out and do sections of the town to monitor the flow of water and what’s going on.”