Some residents of Alma, N.B., woke up Friday morning to find they had no running water. The Municipality of Fundy Albert first indicated there was an issue with the water system on its Facebook page around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. The post said the village was experiencing “significantly higher than normal water usage over the past 24 hours.” The municipality asked residents and businesses to help find any possible sources of the increased consumption to avoid impacts to the overall supply. About three hours later, it was announced municipal crews would work through the night to find the source of the problem. People were warned they might experience service interruptions, pressure changes and outages in some areas. Another update, posted just after midnight, said more disruptions were possible through the day Friday as crews continued to work to find and fix the issue. The post said the water supply would be shut down until 6 a.m. Continued disruptions expected The municipality issued a statement before 2 p.m. Friday, saying it had localized the issue to a limited area within the community. “Public Works staff continue to narrow down the precise location of the leak and are actively working to identify the exact cause in order to determine the most appropriate repair strategy,” said CAO Sean Wallace in the statement. “Based on preliminary assessment only, and until the exact cause is confirmed, it is suspected that recent freeze–thaw weather conditions may be a contributing factor, as such conditions are known to place stress on water lines and valves. This assessment remains speculative pending confirmation." All residents and businesses are being asked to “significantly reduce water use” while the investigation continues. A boil-water order is also in effect. Continued disruptions are expected and overnight shutdowns may be possible again. “We fully understand the frustration and disruption this situation has caused for residents,” said Wallace. “Reliable access to water is essential to daily life, and our team is actively working to mitigate service disruptions while crews continue their efforts to resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible. We sincerely appreciate the patience, understanding, and cooperation shown by the community during this time.” The municipality says updates will be provided as work progresses. Residents and business owners respond Alma resident and business owner Kris Kelly finds all the community’s water issues very frustrating. “It’s strange because there’s no one really in this town. There’s 280 residents and that’s all on the system right now, so obviously there’s more problems going on,” said Kelly early Friday afternoon. “The lack of transparency and communication from the municipality is what’s the most frustrating part of the whole ordeal.” Fundy Albert is working towards getting a new well up and running to help eliminate water issues in the summer months, but Kelly said he hasn’t heard any update on that. Jane West Chrysostom, a longtime Alma resident and business owner, said she heard very little about what was going on before the municipality posted an update on its Facebook page. “It has been explained to us that there are several causes for it and they’re not sure what the specific cause is. So that’s been an ongoing investigation with the public works department as we’ve been told. No results and no satisfactory answers,” said West Chrysostom. West Chrysostom said there’s been so many boil orders over the years and she’s tired of it. “It’s extremely inconvenient. It’s an added expense for families and restaurants and business owners. We are an hour away from major grocery stores, so for us to go buy our own potable water it’s a gas expense, it’s out of our daily routine interruption,” said West Chrysostom. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
