Duteau Creek Water Treatment Plant. (File photo/Vernon Matters Staff)

By Liam Verster

Headgates Spillway Project

Water quality from Duteau Creek expected to improve this month

Mar 1, 2023 | 3:26 PM

The Regional District of North Okanagan is expecting water quality from Duteau Creek to improve by mid-March.

The RDNO said the Headgates Spillway Project, which launched in September of 2022 to increase the size of the spillway for the dam at Harvey Lake, is expected to be complete later this month.

The Water Quality Advisory related to the project will be rescinded when the work wraps up.

In the meantime, a precautionary Water Quality Advisory (WQA) remains in place for a large segment of properties in Greater Vernon that get their water from the Duteau source.

Greater Vernon Water requires a lower flow from the Duteau Creek in order to do the construction work, which may result in the UV disinfection process not being able to function.

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Water will still undergo the clarification process and be disinfected with chlorine, but affected customers may wish to boil their water for a full minute before preparing food, drinking, making ice or beverages or brushing teeth.

Additionally, some area customers that receive water from Duteau Creek may instead be receiving water from the Kalamalka Lake water source without notice in order to maintain ideal flows. The RDNO stated the water from Kalamalka is harder and has a higher pH than Duteau, which may affect in-home water treatment systems or aquariums.

The blue and green areas of the map below are those affected by the work.

The blue areas are under a precautionary Water Quality Advisory, and the green areas may receive water from the Kalamalka Lake source (map courtesy of Greater Vernon Water via the Regional District of North Okanagan)

GVW and the RDNO will provide another project update in mid-March.