The Chatham water treatment plant is running, but it remains powered by generators.
Darren Galbraith, general manager of the Public Utilities Commission, provided Chatham-Kent council with an update after the plant suffered a power outage on Sept. 21.
He said problems began with the outage, but they magnified. Repairs were more than staff could address, so an outside contractor was brought in.
During that time, the generator had automatically fired up to keep the plant running.
However, when the outside contractor wanted to start locking out equipment to track the issue, the generator just shut down.
“That’s not standard shutdown practices for a generator of that size. Normally they idle for approximately 10 minutes to allow them to cool down,” Galbraith said.
As a result of the generator failing to cool down, it developed a vapour lock, which had to be cleared before it could be restarted, he added.
As for what caused the outage in the first place, Galbraith said PUC staff are still investigating, but ruled out vandalism.
“There were zero signs of vandalism. Something just caused an over-amperage and that caused the fuses to go,” he said. “The root cause has not been determined. There was a cable in the metering chamber that went to ground. There were fuses and insulators that also burnt.”
Another problem that developed was the availability of spare parts. Galbraith said the PUC had most everything on hand but are working to find a 300-amp fuse.
The PUC brought in a second generator Monday afternoon and Galbraith said the plant is operating at full capacity.
However, an outdoor watering ban remains in effect.
“Anything people can do helps. We did put out an ask for the people on the Chatham distribution system to limit outdoor water use,” Galbraith said.
