Tank failure leads to water restrictions

Annapolis Royal is asking residents to cut down on water usage after a water tank failure in Granville Ferry has forced the town to outsource water at great cost.

The water tank in Granville Ferry is part of a two-tank joint water system that supplies water to both communities. On June 29, the tank was found to be eroding from the bottom and needs to be replaced.

Initial repair efforts to the water tank created a larger problem, delaying the repair time by a minimum of two weeks, Annapolis Royal Mayor Amery Boyer said in a written statement on the website for the municipality.

“It’s pretty serious,” said Boyer. “We had no notice this was going to happen. It took several days to figure out.”

When the break happened, the town blocked off its section of the water system to avoid contamination, said Boyer.

“That’s what precipitated the whole thing,” she said.

“After that, it was every man for himself.”

Water trucks were initially delivered to the community from neighbouring communities to help with the water shortage, but didn’t have the right equipment, Boyer said.

“We didn’t have a pump to get the water into the tank,” said Boyer.

“That caused us to instate the boil-water advisory.”

Two separate boil-water advisories were set for the communities last week, with citizens being asked to cut down on water usage where possible.

“In Annapolis Royal, people can boil it for a minute and then consume it,” Boyer said.

The town was forced to outsource water from neighbouring communities, which has been a costly affair, Boyer said.

“We’ve already spent over $50,000 to bring water into the county,” said Boyer.

“Most of our water came from Cornwallis. Water was also shipped in from Digby, but was delayed due to construction.”

A major setback for repairs to the water tank is its location, Boyer said.

“The water tank is on a hill,” she said.

“You can’t put a great big water truck on that road. It would ruin it. There are a lot of complexities.”

The water shortage has had the largest effect on business owners who have been struggling over the last year, said Boyer.

“It’s hit the businesses really hard,” she said.

“They’re reeling after COVID. They are just getting on their feet, we’ve got all these people coming to town and then you’ve got this. What next is going to get them?”

One business owner in the area, Danny McClair, said the water shortage has been a concern.

“It was alarming,” said McClair.

“When it’s the busiest time of the year and you’re suddenly told you have to conserve water.”

As co-owner of the Annapolis Brewing Company, McClair said the effects of the current boil-water advisories have been minimal on business.

“We boil our product anyway,” McClair said.

“We try to do our best to conserve water at the brewery. We’ve been now employing techniques that we normally wouldn’t use.”

McClair also works as a certified pool operator at a local pool.

“We purchased some water to keep the pool going,” he said.

“I think the city has done a fantastic job to keep the residents with some water.”

The county and town both filed with the Regional Emergency

Measures Organization that said they would only pay for bottled water to be shipped to the community, said Mayor Amery Boyer.

“Bottled water is not going to do it,” Boyer said.

“We have a large bill. And that hardly helps when you’ve got a hospital to service and senior residents.”

Repairs to the water tank will be completed by midJuly, with welders working in shifts to replace the tank in sections, said Boyer.

She plans to talk to the provincial government soon about the lack of support.

“This is a serious issue and we shouldn’t be left to do everything by ourselves,” Boyer said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

The county is urging residents to reduce water consumption until repairs to the water tower have been completed.

Free bottled water is currently available to residents at the Annapolis Royal fire hall.