BC Presentation to the World Health Organization Meeting in Kelowna, Sept 19, 2006 The third meeting of the International Network on Small Community Water Supplies was held in Kelowna, BC, from September 18-22, 2006, and hosted by Health Canada. This was the third of three meetings of the group. The first was in January of 2005 in Reykjavik Iceland, and the second was in August, in Alice Springs, Australia. The International Network on Small Community Water Supplies includes numerous Canadian representatives and has a membership of over 30 countries. Al Lister from the Sage Mesa Water System in Penticton, BC was asked to present his experience from a BC perspective. Al was the recipient of the 2006 Small Water System award, presented at the BCWWA AGM and conference in Whistler. |
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Al was specifically asked to outline 3 major problem areas they have encountered and how they were resolved.
The problems briefly: Getting the chlorine in the water dependably. Pump out of the top of the barrel into an ‘air gap’ arrangement at the pump level to prevent siphoning. Use gravity feed into the wet well, discharging above the water level. Use a sump pump to stir the wet well for a consistent mix. |
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2. Getting reliable, available and dedicated operators. |
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Go to the ‘grey haired’ retired community.
Reservoir and water main health. DO NOT try to keep the reservoir as full as possible. It will become a swamp. The fresh chlorinated water must have time to go through the main lines and to refresh 20% of the reservoir volume on each cycle. There was a 20 minute slide show with 52 pictures, including the ones here, of the system operation and water line extension projects. Al was pleased with the reception that was received and the questions asked after he returned to work. The participants were given other Sage Mesa information in their packages, including our Emergency Response Plan, and a more detailed nine page paper on the local water system history and the problems mentioned. He also wrote his thoughts on operator training. Several CD’s of the presentation and text were quickly disappeared after the presentation. There were also several requests for additional multiple copies from various countries including Canada, and 20 copies for one gentleman from South America. There were several translators at the back of the room, and headsets were available with wireless controls for the various languages other than English. Al reports it was a rewarding experience to be able to give information that may help people, many in developing countries, to get on the road to safe drinking water. Further information on the WHO International Network may be found on the following website. http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/dwq/kelownameeting/en/index.html |
