HUDSON'S HOPE, BC -- It has been nearly two months since the people of Hudson’s Hope have been able to drink their water. A Do Not Consume order was issued for the district on August 9th, after residents had already been on a boil water notice since July 21st.
This was due to a failure at the district’s water treatment plant. Located inside a retrofitted house, it has been the site of the district’s most challenging projects in recent years.
“We’ve had some operational issues with the media inside [the aerator],” says Keith Reschke, the plant’s operator. “They’re little plastic balls, and they’re getting built up with sludge – biofilm.”
That’s where the problems start – that sludge is made up of coliform bacteria and E.coli. When it builds up, the rest of the plant cannot filter it out. So, the district has replaced all the filters in the aerator. They’ve also had to replace parts in the pre-filter system, and the reverse osmosis membranes.
When it’s working properly, the system will remove 99.9% of contaminants, at which point the rest is purified with minerals and sent out to town through the distribution system.
But the problem is what’s causing that high level of coliform to build up in the first place. The district believes the quality of the water itself is to blame.
“We feel that the source water has changed substantially since the initial test well results were brought in,” says Hudson’s Hope Mayor Dave Heiberg.
In 2020, BC Hydro began building a berm along the Hudson’s Hope shoreline. It’s designed to protect the shore from erosion caused by the Site C reservoir.
However, the project meant the district couldn’t draw water from the river anymore. BC Hydro then provided funding to build an aquifer system to replace it.
When it was built, Heiberg says the water quality from the new system was good. But now the quality has dropped substantially, even when it’s at a drinkable level.
“Long story short, nobody’s happy, me included,” says Heiberg. “We’re trying to be patient, me included. Patience is running out, me included.”
Heiberg says the district is talking with BC Hydro to come up with a better long term solution. There’s no word yet on what that solution might be, or when it will happen, but Heiberg says talks are progressing well.
BC Hydro has also provided $500,000 to cover costs associated with the treatment plant’s failure.
“What we don’t want to do is jump from one thing to another without fully understanding what we’re actually doing and having problems with another system,” says Heiberg.
For now, the district is testing the water and hoping for approval from Northern Health to lift the Do Not Consume order. Two clean samples in a row must be collected, but so far the results have been inconsistent.
The district has collected samples Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and has sent them away for testing. Staff are expecting results by late Saturday evening. If they come back negative, the district will test again next week.
