Water disruption causing problems
for residents of Frank
Lindsay Goss photo
A water distribution main serving the community of Frank was been damaged as a result of a Fortis electrical upgrade, resulting in no water service in Frank.
LINDSAY GOSS
Pass Herald Reporter
A water distribution main serving the community of Frank was been damaged as a result of a Fortis electrical upgrade, resulting in no water service in Frank from April 25th-April 26th. Water service was first disrupted in the afternoon of Thursday, April 25th.
“The problem started when he hit a water main,” said Jennifer Macgowan, FortisAlberta Spokesperson. “We investigated it and confirmed that we have done all the processes and procedure before returning back to work.”
Macgowan said that Fortis has ordered pump trucks and were pumping throughout the night on April 25th.
A potable water truck was available in the early morning of Friday, April 26th and was parked at the entrance to Frank Industrial Park. Town crews delivered bottled water door to door to residents starting between 7:00 and 7:30am on Friday, April 26th.
Attempts to repair the damaged water main adjacent to the highway going through Frank was called off late Thursday evening due to safety concerns. The area was made safe and Fortis's contracted crews continued to pump through the night with equipment.
Randy Kutcher, a resident of Frank said that everything he has found out regarding the water disturbance, he has found by contacting the municipality himself.
“They have not contacted me,” said Kutcher. “And they have provided me with little information,”
He confirmed that there was a potable water truck parked at Frank Industrial Park and quite a few people have been utilizing it.
“Nobody has called me.”
Matthew Tartal, a business owner in Frank, said that the water disturbance has been a big disorder to his business. Currently, his business is under renovation and he has crew members working at his shop. “We have to go to Tim Horton’s to go to the bathroom,” said Tartal. ‘It’s a huge inconvenience.”
In addition, Tartal explained that he had to turn off the power to his walk-in cooler because of the water outage, causing the beer in the cooler to lose quality. “By warming cooled beer, and then cooling it again, it loses value,” said Tartal. “This has been a major disturbance to me and my business.”
The Pass Herald was unable to contact the Municipality by press time.
