OLDS — The Town of Olds has started to make real headway in cutting water loss, which has cost the community millions of dollars over the years.
“I will note that essentially from September onward, we are seeing favourable numbers in both the water and wastewater loss percentages,” the municipality's infrastructure director Adrian Pedro told council during a Jan. 13 presentation.
He said the amount of water loss began to fall in September as a result of work the municipality has undertaken to find out where and how it’s occurring.
In January 2024, water loss stood at 35.24 per cent. By September, that percentage was 15.76 per cent, although it ballooned back up to 26.42 per cent in November, then down to 12.59 per cent for December.
Wastewater loss stood at 41.67 per cent a year ago and fell to 32.41 per cent in September, 24.25 per cent in November and 19.83 per cent in December.
“We are seeing a decrease in both areas, which is good to see,” Pedro said. “What we've seen essentially from October to end of November is that they were relatively in line.”
Pedro said statistics show that there is still likely one large leak or several smaller ones that workers still haven’t found.
He said that highlights the importance of tracking water loss stats “so we can identify those trends.”
Coun. Heather Ryan asked why the water loss percentage rose in November.
Pedro said that at least one reason was likely due to lower utility billing volume.
“In November, we saw about 60,000 cubic metres of water that was billed. That is lower than our average.”
Pedro said one factor might be the way water billing is undertaken.
He said for example, if a property consumes 10.2 cubic metres in one month, the system bills for 10 cubic metres and the remaining .2 cubic metres will be factored in the next month.
“Our meter only reads in whole numbers,” he said.
Pedro noted the Town of Olds plans to spend $1.8 million this year to stem water and wastewater loss.
That effort includes an ongoing project to have cameras scan sewers looking for potential sources of leaks.
“Once we receive all that footage and all those reports, we expect we'll have a lengthy list of locations we need to repair,” Pedro said.
Other anticipated work includes lining manholes and sanitary sewer relining or replacement as well as water leak repairs.
As a result, he said, “this year will be quite busy.”
