After several unforeseen delays which kept the spray park closed most of last year, the park at the Rimbey Aquatic Centre has become functional, and with seemingly minimal operational problems.
For several consecutive days youngsters have enjoyed the park immensely, delighting in the invigorating sprays of the water that erupts from overhanging buckets, having water fights with the revolving water guns and simply just slipping and sliding about in the cool water.
However, as luck would have it a mechanical failure occurred at one of the town’s wells. Also, a flow meter failed in one of the reservoirs.
“We were filling the tank manually with having to check it every hour or so when filling,” said public works foreman Rick Schmidt.
The problems with the well and the flow meter temporarily disrupted the town’s water supply.
“It was a double whammy,” added Schmidt.
To compensate for the disruption, a ban, meaning no outside watering and closure of the spray park, was put in place.
“There was nothing wrong with the spray park,” said CAO Lucien Cloutier. “In fact, it was operating quite well and we had some pretty happy customers.”
Cloutier is anticipating the water ban will be off by Friday. He said the part needed to repair the pump is expected today (Wednesday) and it will be installed as soon as possible.
“We should be back to full capacity,” he said.
Cloutier expects residents should be able to access full watering privileges once the system is running properly.
“We will keep a close eye on it, though,” he said.
Residents can check the town’s website to keep updated on the water ban.
A timer will be installed at the spray park later this month. The timer will need to be activated in order for the spray to be activated.
“It’s a good conservation practice,” said Cloutier.
Water from the spray park is already recycled through filters resulting in almost 100 per cent recovery.