The City of Yorkton will be investing in a new water well to ensure supplies.
That was the unanimous decision of Yorkton Council at its regular meeting Monday.
鈥淭he City of Yorkton is the only city in Saskatchewan that solely relies on groundwater for our Source Waters. Therefore, groundwater protection or aquifer protection is critical for the safety and water security of our water supply,鈥� began Aron Hershmiller, Asst. Director of Environmental Services with the City as background for Council. 鈥�... We currently operate 13 water production wells within six different aquifers and have 125 active piezometers (groundwater monitoring wells) within this network. Sixty of our piezometers are equipped with level loggers that capture daily water level readings, which we use to track and report the water levels within our managed aquifers.鈥�
Some of the aquifers are shallow and can be susceptible or vulnerable to contamination, consequently water protection is critical, said Hershmiller.
鈥淪uch occurrences as the fuel tanker / train collision that resulted in a fuel spill in July 2019 take a serious toll on our aquifer management and preparedness plans. After that spill occurred, we immediately stopped water well production and tested for hydrocarbons,鈥� detailed Hershmiller鈥檚 written report.
鈥淪ince then, with consultation with our consultant and monthly testing, we have recently began extracting water again from that aquifer.鈥�
Seven water production wells or 54 percent of our wells are within this aquifer, which validated the importance of having multiple aquifers to draw from for our water supply, he added.
The issue though for Council revolved around one well in the system
鈥淲ater Well # 13 is a high yielding water well located in the Empress Aquifer just south of Deer Park golf course,鈥� said Hershmiller. 鈥淎lthough we have thirteen active water wells within our water supply network, water well #13 is one of our most important, high producing wells that we heavily rely on for production.鈥�
During routine testing, the department found that Water Well # 13 had experienced a well casing breech and therefore we had to shut down water production from Well #13.
This well was constructed in 1981 at a depth of 58.5 meters (192 ft.).
鈥淲ell #13 is one of five remaining wells which are still situated within the well house. The other remaining wells are #7, #8, # 9, #10, and #11. Having the well located inside the well house presents difficulties for when we have a well contractor on site to rehabilitate the well, which takes place approximately every five years,鈥� said Hershmiller.
鈥淲ater and cleaning agents used in the rehabilitation process end up spraying the interior walls of the building, creating damage to the building and creating safety issues during servicing.
鈥淚t is the department鈥檚 goal to replace all wells still located within the well houses as each well fails.鈥�
So the request was to fund digging a new well #13.
The new well will be drilled on the same land parcel, enabling us to utilize some existing infrastructure at the current site, said Hershmiller.
The new well however will be drilled at a deeper depth to ensure that we maximize the aquifers potential at that location.
The project cost will be $615,000.
This required funding would be drawn from our Water reserves.
Council was unanimous in supporting the well replacement plan.
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