The Town of Drumheller will be operating the fountain at Rotary Park on a reduced schedule this summer.
The Town has had the fountain in operations this season however there are still leaks in the infrastructure. According to a release from the town of Drumheller when crews were getting the fountain ready for the season they measured a huge loss of water.
In 2018 significant leaks were discovered. The major leaks were repaired and some pipes were lined at a cost of $65,000. It was estimated that it would cost at least a further $180,000 to complete the work.
During the 2019 budget discussions council felt this was not a good use of public money and therefore instructed administration to keep the fountain running as much as they could through this summer and look at alternatives for 2020; such as an extension to the spray park.
"Unfortunately despite the work last year there are still significant losses of water and so we have decided run the fountain on a reduced schedule," explained Darryl Drohomerski, CAO of the Town of Drumheller. "The Public Works team: in partnership with Alberta Health have created a schedule of running the fountain Thursday morning to Monday morning every week over the summer, apart from holiday Mondays when it will run to Tuesday morning."
"We appreciate the fountain is an important part of the summer experience in Drumheller," outlined Dave Brett Director of Infrastructure. "However we take water conservation seriously and with the loss of 63,896 litres in a 25 hour period (that is 68% of what the fountain holds) we feel this is the best option available. On days the fountain is not running, the spray park will still be available for people to enjoy."
