The Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission is moving forward with a backflow prevention program, meant to help avoid boil water advisories and system shut-offs.
Area Manager Tim Sunderland says the PUC had a program ready in 2005, but they didn't have the necessary support from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to implement it.
"We got it to a certain point that we were ready to go," says Sunderland. "We were looking for guidance from the MOECC on the program itself and the framework. We are still waiting to this point, but we felt it was necessary to move forward at this time."
The program will see the PUC begin with a study to identify the high-hazard industrial and commercial sites in Chatham-Kent that need to be addressed.
"What we're trying to get ahead of is a potential for an undesirable backflow of water into our distribution system," says Sunderland.
Chatham-Kent Council still needs to pass a bylaw to give the program final approval.
Staffing costs for the program are expected to run about $15,000 per year.
