Nanaimo mayor Leonard Krog (hard hat) turns on the water for the Mid-town Water Supply Project on Wednesday, July 24, flanked by City Councillors (L-R) Hilary Eastmure, Erin Hemmens, Ian Thorpe, and Janice Perrino. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

midtown water supply

Taps turned on for major upgrade to Nanaimo water system

Jul 24, 2024 | 2:11 PM

NANAIMO — The taps are on and water is starting to flow through a major infrastructure upgrade, designed to future-proof the City’s underground network.

The Midtown Water Supply Project came online on Wednesday, July 24 with a ceremonial turning of the tap, capping a project years in the making and spanning area from VIU to Beban Park.

General manager of engineering and public works Bill Sims said the line has been tested and retested ensuring there are no leaks before starts supplying residents with water.

“That’s the process that’s been happening over the last few days. And today (Wednesday, July 24), with the mayor spinning the valve, it’s the inauguration of the main, so after today, people will be receiving water.”

He said this line delivers water to around two-thirds of Nanaimo, equal to around 70,000 people.

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The new pipes are around 750 millimetres in diameter. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The project’s main goal was to provide redundancy and extra capacity to the City’s water supply network, in addition to dealing with crumbling and aging pipes.

Vulnerabilities were brought to light following a water main burst along Bowen Rd. in April 2020 which highlighted the need to expedite the long-planned project, said Sims.

“That was sort of a reshuffling of the entire capital plan on our water supply side, which council was quite supportive. Reshuffled it and turned it around, and we accelerated this project significantly so that we could deal with the break and not have a repeat.”

Extensive upgrades were required to Bowen Rd. in April 2020 after a water main broke, flooding the surrounding area with 22 million litres of water in a matter of hours. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Sims added the reality is utilities across North America are seeing failures with this type of pipe, including recently in Calgary, AB, when a main water line broke on June 5, leading to water restrictions lasting weeks.

“This is exactly the same type of pipe that was in Calgary. They’re really struggling with it as well. But for us, taking this out of service and replacing it with a much more resilient, much more robust water main, hopefully greatly reduces any risk and minimizes the chances of this being a problem again.”

The final cost of the Midtown Water Supply Project is $55 million.

Mayor Leonard Krog said municipalities are not immune to rising costs, with the importance of this project underscored by the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital almost going without water during the April 2020 water main break.

“The Bowen Rd. water main break, that was a 22 million-litre loss of water. The Midtown Water Supply Project…will deliver 25 million litres of water daily to the community. It was a wake-up call in terms of what was needed.”

Previously, Nanaimo’s water supply in the area was done through one main pipe underneath Buttertubs Marsh, Boundary Ave., Hwy. 19 and Bowen Rd.

The single 900 millimetre pipe installed in the late 1970’s services central and north Nanaimo.

A new water main line designed to future-proof Nanaimo’s water supply and ease the burden on crumbling infrastructure. (City of Nanaimo)

Clearing of affected areas along the Nanaimo Parkway and other parts of the city occurred through spring 2022 ahead of pipe delivery and construction starting later in the year.

As part of future work on Nanaimo’s water infrastructure, the pipe along Bowen Rd. will be shut down, drained and parts of it re-used for a new secondary supply line, while the old pipe can be used as a casing” or vessel to hold any future water mains.

Work will affect traffic on Bowen Rd. from Pryde Ave. to just north of Dufferin Cres. for a period of 12 weeks with the City advising drivers to find alternate routes where possible.

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