Town of Barrhead enlists outside help to find mystery water leak

BARRHEAD - The Town of Barrhead has a water leak and needs to find where it is.

But to do that, they need some help finding it, which is why the council, at its Nov. 25 meeting, approved $72,000 to engage Envio Trace Advanced Leak Detection to conduct a leak detection survey for the entire town. The funding will come from the 2024 Water Capital Reserve.

Corporate services director Jennifer Mantay told councillors that earlier this year, they discovered an issue in the town's water delivery system: the amount of water they purchased from the Barrhead Regional Water Commission (BRWC) and the amount the municipality billed residents did not match.

"There was a very high discrepancy, and it was just getting higher as we continued through the year," she said. "So either we have a very large leak or several medium-sized leaks."

The BRWC is an independent body comprised of members of the Barrhead municipalities. The commission owns the region's water infrastructure, pipelines, and treatment plant. It sells the water to the municipalities, which, in turn, resell it to their residents.

In September and October, the town purchased 172,139 cubic metres of water from the BRWC and billed residents for 88,142 cubic metres of usage, for roughly a 48 per cent cost recovery.

Mantay said that often, when there is a leak of this magnitude, its general location quickly becomes self-evident as the water becomes visible and bubbles up to the surface.

She explained that the company, which comes highly recommended, puts an artificial intelligence reader on the cap of each valve. The reader detects if there is a leak at or near the valve and its magnitude.

"We are at the stage where we feel that this needs to be done quickly," Mantay said, adding if council approves the expense, Envio Trace Advanced Leak Detection could begin its work in early December.

"Usually, [they can find the leak] within a couple of weeks," she said.

Mantay added that there is a chance the company won't be able to scan the entire municipality before it goes to a job it is already prebooked to do in B.C., which is why the plan is to tell them to start their scans in the older neighbourhoods on the south end of town.

"They have the oldest pipes and have the highest potential of failure," she said.

Public works director Sheldon Flett agreed, specifically Envio Trace Advanced Leak Detection would begin work in the southeast corner near Hillcrest Lodge from about 49th Avenue to 53rd Avenue.

"The hard thing for us will be getting through the snow and ice to get to the valves, but [Envio Trace Advanced Leak Detection] has no issues doing the work at this time of year," he said, adding if for any reason public works and the company has issues reaching a valve, they can also access the system through fire hydrants.

Coun. Anthony Oswald, a retired Town of Barrhead public works employee, asked why public works suggested that the company start its investigation in a residential section rather than the industrial park.

"We are targeting the higher pressure zones," utility operator 3 Mario Acevedo replied, adding that public works initially began its investigation in the industrial park by opening manholes.

"To us, it looked like we were experiencing higher flows, that is why we thought we would start up there; plus, we had an ongoing issue at the reservoir that would show up as the problem".

However, Acevedo said they do not believe that is the issue.

Acevedo was referring to the leak the municipality discovered last year when they upgraded the industrial reservoir and confirmed this summer.

Specifically, recently retired CAO Edward LeBlanc told the Barrhead Leader, following a Sept. 10 in-camera session in which the council approved $100,000 to repair the leak, that it was due to an old water line going to the industrial reservoir and the repair needed to be done when the reservoir was near capacity. Flett noted later in the meeting that the repair had not been completed.

Coun. Dausen Kluin asked if public works had a contingency plan in case the company did not find the leak.

Flett said they are confident Envio Trace Advanced Leak Detection will resolve the issue, and there will not be a need for "a Plan B".

Mantay agreed but said finding the leak is only half the issue, noting the other half is to repair the problem.

"[Envio Trace Advanced Leak Detection] says they can find leaks within a metre," she said. 

"Which will minimize the road or sidewalk we must dig up," Flett interjected.

Coun. Don Smith asked if public works detected a decrease in water pressure.

"There is nothing, which is what we can't figure out," Flett replied

But having said that, Acevedo noted they wouldn't necessarily see a pressure drop in pressure because the pumps at the water reservoir would "keep up" with any losses.

"If it were that big of a leak [that would cause a noticeable pressure drop], it would have surfaced already," he said, adding that public works have noticed an increase in water pump activity.

Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com