The Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17 is planning a major technology upgrade at the Calling Lake water treatment plant after a massive leak and ongoing internet failures nearly forced operators to shut down the community’s water supply.
During the regular council meeting on Aug. 10, municipal staff provided an update to local politicians regarding a recent communication breakdown that caused severe water loss in Calling Lake.
A live fire hydrant was opened without proper warning, unleashing a heavy flow of water. Administration told council that the open hydrant drained treated water at a rate of 29 litres per second for over an hour.
The unexpected drain put immense stress on local infrastructure. Administration noted that the Calling Lake water plant can only produce a maximum of 14 litres per second, meaning the municipal reservoir was emptying more than twice as fast as the plant could refill it.
“We were just watching the level drop drastically, so we started making phone calls,” an administration member said, explaining that there was no communication before the hydrant was opened. “It was frustrating.”
Opening a live hydrant incorrectly can cause intense pressure changes within underground pipes. Administration confirmed the incident blew a valve in the system, creating a secondary leak that crews had to repair.
The situation became so critical that municipal staff seriously considered shutting off the main reservoir entirely to protect the remaining water supply and keep the pumps from burning out.
While operators eventually stabilized the system, the near-disaster exposed a serious vulnerability at the plant. Administration said the facility’s remote monitoring system—known as SCADA—has been repeatedly crippled by network connection errors.
During the meeting, staff revealed that the SCADA system was offline again due to an ongoing municipal Wi-Fi and IT error.
If a similar leak occurred while the remote monitoring system was offline, operators would be completely blind to the dropping water levels until the reservoir ran dry.
“We wouldn’t have known right away,” an administration member said, highlighting how fortunate they were to catch the pressure drop when they did.
To prevent future blind spots, the public works department is taking matters into its own hands. Administration announced plans to completely disconnect the Calling Lake water plant from the broader municipal IT network during its next upgrade.
Instead, the department will purchase and install a dedicated Starlink satellite dish to run the facility’s monitoring systems independently. This will bypass local network issues and ensure operators have a reliable, secure connection to monitor the community’s drinking water 24 hours a day.
Armaan Khanna
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter