Corner Brook's new water treatment plant temporarily offline
Mayor Charles Pender says seepage of sealant into filter tanks 'should never have happened'
Officials with the City of Corner Brook say they're working feverishly to bring the new water treatment plant back online after work to fix a construction deficiency resulted in a substance leaking into the filter tanks.
The plant was shut down Wednesday so a subcontractor could carry out the work, but the process was complicated after some "repair compound" seeped into the filter tanks.
Officials says the problem was discovered quickly, and the former system at Trout Pond was immediately reactivated.
Corner Brook Mayor Charles Pender told CBC News it's expected the treatment plant will be back online by Friday evening.
The province's environment department gave the city approval to restart the plant Friday afternoon, and Pender said it was just a matter of time before it was back up,
The public was never at any risk, officials say, and the water remains safe to drink.
Cleaning the filter tanks is taking longer than expected, and residents are being advised they can expect to see discoloured water until the plant is back in operation.
Contractors 'asked to leave'
A statement Wednesday said officials are "expending every effort" to get the plant back in operation, and asked for patience and understanding from the public.
Mayor Pender explained the situation during an interview with CBC's Corner Brook Morning Show Thursday, and said it "should never have happened."
He said a subcontracting company was brought in to to seal some "surface cracks" in the concrete filter tanks with a product used all across the country that is not harmful.
But the sealant somehow leaked into the water filter tanks, and was quickly noticed because it is non-soluble and floated to the surface.
Pender said the company has been "asked to leave" and the city will "not let those guys back into the plant anymore."
He said water samples will undergo comprehensive testing before the system is restarted.
The $50-million system was officially opened earlier this month. It is designed to produce a flow rate of up to 30-million litres per day.