Thompson residents are being asked to cut down on the amount of water they use Aug. 22 while Vale shuts down power to the river pumphouse and the water treatment plant.
The scheduled power outage will enable the company to replace the pumphouse with a new one that was trucked into town a couple of weeks ago and hook up electricity to the new building. Previous scheduled power outages for Aug. 17 and Aug. 21 were rescheduled for Aug. 22. City residents are being asked not to water lawns, wash cars or perform other activities that require large amounts of water between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Aug. 22.
Water from reservoirs will supply residents’ water needs during the power outage, said Ryan Land, manager of corporate affairs and organizational development for Vale’s Manitoba Operations.