CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE June 24, 2020
Work on Shawville’s water system has been causing some headaches for residents as the town has been . . .
under a boil water advisory since the start of the month, and ordered to reduce their water consumption starting on June 22.
The initial boil advisory was scheduled to be lifted on the 15th, but was extended to the end of the month on June 9.
Speaking to The Equity on June 18, Shawville councillor Bill McCleary said that he he expected the advisory to be lifted sooner, as the springs that were being worked on were already back online but needed to be tested.
“We’re waiting for the test results to come back,” he said. “It takes two to three working days, so I imagine Monday the test will come back and if it’s good we’ll take the boil [advisory] off.”
In addition to the boil advisory, a small section of the town including the Young subdivision and everything east of rue Clarendon, had their water temporarily shut off for several hours on the morning of June 10. McCleary explained that the brief shutoff was necessary to replace an aging line that was badly deteriorated.
“It was in very bad shape, “ he said. “It was going to let go, so we had to dig to find a way to shut off the line so we could eliminate the rusty piping.”
The newest inconvenience for the town’s residents was announced on Friday, as citizens were asked to limit their water consumption and banned from watering their lawns or gardens under the threat of fines.
McCleary spoke to The Equity the day before the order was announced, but said that it was a definitely possibility if there was no rain on the horizon. He explained that it would be required due to routine maintenance on the wells at the town’s water tower, as well as preparations for installing of a new chlorination system at the site.
“We kind of got caught with our pants down, we shouldn’t be doing it this late, when you’re getting warm weather and people are watering, etc.,” he said. “We didn’t have any choice because we had this work at the springs and that put us behind.”
McCleary said that additional work to replace sections of the tower’s wall were anticipated to begin in early August.
