Husky oil spill: North Battleford finds new sources of drinking water

Call it the one-third plan.

Today, city council in North Battleford approved a plan to provide a sustainable supply of drinking water in the wake of the Husky Energy pipeline spill.

• Husky oil spill: provincial update for Tuesday, Aug. 2

About two weeks ago, hundreds ofthousands of litres spilled into the North Saskatchewan River, forcing downstream communities to shut down water treatment plants.

They've been coping in North Battleford, according to Mayor Ian Hamilton.

"We got off to a good start, very proactive measures," he said.

The water supply held out thanks to tight water restrictions.

Today, a pipeline linking North Battleford to its sister community's water system was completed. Battleford water will begin flowing into the city as soon as testing confirms everything is okay.

• Battleford to the rescue with clean water for North Battleford

North Battleford isn't stopping there. Winter could quickly render that temporary line useless and so the city has green-lightedthe drilling of a series of new wells.

"We should have within 30 days those four wells up and running and contributing," said Hamilton.

Possible to filter out oil?

They are also gambling on new technology.

"It's not proven yet," warned the city's mayor.

But they are willing to work with a company in Edmonton that may have a way to filter out the oil and other contaminants spilled into the river by Husky Energy.

"And that may allow us to get another source of water, still out of the river, but it would be pre-filtered and then fed into the system," said Hamilton.

Each alternative should replace about one-third of the water that was lost by shutting off the F.E. Holliday plant because of the spill.

That may allow North Battleford to lift some of the water restrictions currently in place.