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Olympian woes from lift station's failure

By: Jeff Hamilton

Friday, Jul. 20, 2012 at 8:14 AM | Comments: 0

SWAN RIVER -- Turn off the tap and cover your drains. You might even want to plug your nose.

That was the message from Swan River Mayor Glen McKenzie, who issued a local state of emergency Wednesday night as a failing lift station and heavy rains created the threat of a sewage backup and a disgusting mess.

The timing couldn't have been more rotten.

The undesirable situation was made worse as thousands of visitors, including more than 800 athletes, arrived to take part in the second phase of this year's Manitoba Summer Games.

The state of emergency's impact was almost immediate as both male and female athletes -- housed in two schools during the Games -- were told to refrain from showering and asked not to flush toilets in fear of a potential crisis.

"We asked our athletes to reduce their (bathroom) usage to a need (basis) rather than convenience," said Games co-chairwoman Paula Norman. "We shut the showers down about an hour earlier than they're scheduled to and told them they wouldn't be allowed to shower last night."

More portable toilets were brought in to ease the pain.

"It was slightly inconvenient, but we think we got it under control," said Norman. "The athletes were really fantastic with their co-operation and they understood totally and worked well with our mission staff and volunteers."

So understandable that, according to the account of one Games official, some of the female athletes were seen "showering" in the rain following Wednesday night's storm.

The shower problem was addressed Thursday when a holding tank was brought in to store waste water before a sewage truck pumped the water directly into the town lagoon, bypassing the faulty lift station.

The state of emergency remains in effect, McKenzie said, adding things are stabilized now.

"We now have the second pump operating on a generator, and that's working as it's supposed to work, and we have trucks lifting stuff out of the lift station and the levels are holding stable."

Local electricians and Manitoba Hydro have taken apart a transformer that's said to be the root of the problem. Once it's repaired, the town hopes the lift station will be back to full operation.

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca twitter: @jeffkhamilton

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