Odd spring, but few complaints, Epcor says

An odd spring runoff season threw curveballs at Epcor’s water treatment plant, but the utility says it has heard few complaints.

“We did have a quite interesting spring,” Steve Craik, the company’s director of quality assurance and environment, said recently.

There were two runoff periods in Edmonton this year, an early one after a thaw in late February, then a refreeze and a second runoff in late March.

“The very early part of runoffs is when you can get odours,” which are what cause most complaints, Craik said.

Epcor treats the city’s water for two main concerns.

First, and more important, is the safety of the water. According to Epcor, this is rarely an issue.

The second is odours. This more difficult task is usually what piques concerns from citizens, so Epcor has 100 Edmontonians across the city doing smell tests of their water each day during runoff season.

The company has not received all the results from their odour tests, but spokesperson Tim le Riche says this spring, like last spring, he heard few concerns.

In 2015, Epcor received an above-average number of concerns about water odour and taste. Epcor attributed the concerns to an earlier than usual spring runoff.

Spring runoffs bring sediment and organic material into the North Saskatchewan River. Epcor adjusts its treatment to account for this and the results can sometimes mean distinct odours and tastes.

The company assures there is no reasons to worry and the water is safe.

“We like to see runoff as short as possible, but we’re able to deal with whatever is thrown at us,” Craik said.