High-risk water pipe on Dilworth fast-tracked for replacement

KELOWNA – A dodgy water main, the only water link for dozens of homes on top of Dilworth Mountain in Kelowna, is being replaced before something more serious happens than a burst pipe.

“We had a complete failure a couple of months ago and when we looked at the pipe, pulled it out of the ground, it was rotted right through,” Andrew Reeder says.

Describing the pipe as high-risk, the utilities planner noted in his report to Kelowna city council that fire protection and continuous water service could be affected in event of a failure although Reeder said the risk of fire trucks not being able to draw water is extremely low.

“It would depend on where the break was and how long it took to fix it. It could only affect a few houses. We would on it right away to fix it, no matter what in the middle of the night if we had to," he says.

Reeder says its location, running up the south side of Dilworth between Omenica Place and Glacier Court, is an unherently unstable sloped area with highly corrosive soil which has cut the 80-year operational expectancy for the iron pipe, installed in 1979.

Council is being asked to spend $1.3 million to quickly replace the failing pipe, sometime before Christmas.

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