December 21, 2018
Nearly a dozen Southeast Kelowna residents in the Crawford
Road area turned on their taps to clean drinking water this week. They’re part
of the first group to receive clean drinking water from the City utility as
part of the ongoing Kelowna Integrated Water project.
The Del Medico family was the first to have their water
changed over. City utility crews connected their property earlier this month,
and the family is thrilled.
“The whole process has been awesome; we couldn’t be happier.
We can finally drink the water straight from the tap,” said John Del Medico.
“We waited a long time and now the water is perfect, ready to go.”
Although these initial homes were connected mid-way through
the project, it will take some time before other Southeast Kelowna residents
are also connected to the new City water system.
“It’s a great feeling to see residents have access to clean
water,” said Patrick Aylard, Project Manager.
Although we could connect these
first few homes because they were so close to existing City utilities,
connecting other houses to the new system will take a bit longer."
It’s anticipated that other Southeast Kelowna residents will
be connected to City water in 2020, when construction of new water mains and
facilities is complete.
When asked what he would say to those Southeast Kelowna
residents still waiting to be connected to the new water system, Del Medico
added, “It’s well worth the wait. It’s funny, you always think we should have
clean water, but we didn’t, and now we do.”
Substantial paving work has been completed on some of the
major project roads where new water mains have been installed. Work is now
underway to build a new water reservoir and pump station at 4075 Jean Road, as
well as complete upgrades to the Stellar and Lower Crawford pump stations.
Construction of the Jean Road and Stellar Road facilities is
expected to be complete by the end of 2019.
Phase 1 of the Kelowna Integrated Water Project, an $86
million project funded by a $43.9 million provincial and federal grant, will
bring clean drinking water to more than 2,000 Southeast Kelowna households and
a sustainable water supply for agriculture in the South Mission. Expected to be
complete in 2020, this is the first phase of the Kelowna Integrated Water
Supply Plan.
For more information and to sign up for project updates,
visit kelowna.ca/water.
Click here to read more about Kelowna's water plan.
Note the projected cost and compare it to Greater Vernon's projected cost here
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