We are excited to share that our Public Works Department has confirmed that the Rotary Spray Park will be available for use over the weekend, regardless of the cooler weather in the upcoming forecast. The outdoor washrooms outside the Drumheller Aquaplex are also open.

As for the Rotary Fountain, we’ve had a couple of bumps along the way preventing it from opening this weekend:

• Concrete work was laid last week, to repair the last two remaining leaks under the sidewalk. These are used to fill the fountain.
  • 10 of these were done last year, but with the world shortage of material, the remaining two had to be left to this year. An additional repair was done to the basin. This needed time to cure
• We are also having the new ring installed
• Caulking work needs to be completed
• The cooler weather has delayed the curing and caulking process
• Our Facilities crew’s winter season was extended this year, delaying our spring preparation
• We are experiencing staff shortages

We are not anticipating any structural issues that would cause delays, as they were identified and repaired last season.

What are the next steps?

• Once the concrete and caulking have cured, the basin will be filled with water
• It takes approximately 3 hours to fill the basin
• The H2O is then chemically treated with chlorine
• This cycles through for about 2 or 3 cycles
• It takes about 90 minutes for a whole water turnover in which the water cycles through the whole system
• Once the chlorine runs through a full cycle, the fountain must circulate for 24 -48 hours, then the team will take a water sample, which needs to be approved by AHS before the Fountain can be opened up to the public
• This sample is sent to a laboratory in Calgary
• While we await the results, the fountain is inspected by an AHS representative that will evaluate the site in order to approve its operations
• Once everything given the greenlight, it’s time to splash and frolic in the beloved fountain!

Curious as to how much work goes into preparing and maintaining the fountain for the public? Our communications team went into the “vault” where all of the fountain control is to understand what it takes to operate this community centrepiece. Check out that post to learn more about what this involves (it’s really fascinating!).

The Rotary Fountain not opening this weekend is disappointing news, though we are looking forward to getting the Rotary Fountain back up and running for everyone to enjoy!