Charlie Lake resident speaks out about sewer issues

Charlie Lake, B.C. — One Charlie Lake resident is dealing with ongoing sewer issues.

One Charlie Lake resident, who has asked not to be named, is speaking out about sewer problems which have caused issues on their property.

In a conversation with Energeticcity.ca, the resident, who has been living in Charlie Lake since September, said he has been dealing with the sewer system for a while. 

“The whole sewer system was a nightmare from the start.”

Energeticcity.ca reached out to the PRRD for comment, who responded by saying they were busy focusing on the landslide in Old Fort.

The resident said in their area, most houses have two ‘stages’ when it comes to water. The first stage is for your toilet, sink and shower, while the second stage is overflow water, which is supposed to be pumped out by pumps. They also said the water feeds into a system that isn’t designed to handle large volumes of water.

“It’s a low-pressure system, it’s not a high-pressure system [like] extremely powerful pumps,” they said. 

“[Recently,] I heard my high water alarm go off on the tank,” they said. “I took the lid off, and I see ‘oh yeah, the waters up. The pumps [are] running.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, why is the water not being discharged into the system?’”

The resident said they later had to have a contractor come out and eventually replace the check valve in the pump. 

According to the resident, their contractor has informed the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) of potential clogs in the sewage line. 

The resident said their contractor put a pressure gauge on the sewage line, which read almost 100 psi. 

PSI stands for pounds per square inch, which measures the force at which water travels through someone’s water main and their home. 

The resident said a normal pressure range is between 30 and 60 psi. 

According to the resident, there is “no help from the district.”

“It’s always a push and blame, ‘oh, it’s something on your end.’ That was something we were running into, we’re like, ‘hey, there’s an issue, and they’re like no, it’s got to be something with your tank.’”