A water conservation order affecting approximately 200 Princeton homes was enacted Tuesday afternoon after a mechanical failure at the municipal well near the Tulameen River.
Outdoor water use is prohibited; while residents are also being asked to practice water conservation indoors in the third bench, hospital, mine subdivision and westbridge areas.
The order is expected to be in place for the next two to three days, according to Michael Mazurek, director of infrastructure.
Water quality is not impacted, he stressed.
“Absolutely not. There was no water quality impact. Water quality has not been impacted, just available volume.”
The well was disabled by a failed motor necessary to get the water to various reservoirs.
“We are pumping water backwards from the other side of the system, but we cannot pump it as fast as we are using it,” said Mazurek.
“We need everyone’s cooperation. If we have everyone’s cooperation we will persevere without any issues.”
Examples of water conservation, in addition to no lawn watering, are taking short showers and not using water unnecessarily, he said.
When the order was issued about 3 p.m. Tuesday town staff fanned out and knocked on doors in the impacted areas, advising residents of the problem. As well the order was posted to the municipality’s website and on social media.
“We went door to door to make sure people who may not have heard the alert were notified. We worked until 8 p.m.”
A new motor has been ordered from an Ontario supplier and is enroute to Princeton today. As well, the existing motor was sent for possible repairs to a Penticton company.
“It’s going to be two or three days before we can fix the problem,” said Mazurek.