Murky water temporary in Charlottetown harbour, due to accomodation for tall ship
Nicole Williams | CBC News | Posted: July 13, 2017 8:00 PM | Last Updated: July 13, 2017
Murky water is runoff from a flushed hydrant being used to supply tall ship Esmeralda
The Charlottetown harbour near the yacht club was briefly filled with murky water Wednesday, because a city-owned hydrant was being flushed out in order to supply Chilean tall ship Esmeralda with clean drinking water.
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"This is just a temporary hook up," said Edward Rice, chair of the Water and Sewer Commission for the City of Charlottetown. "This a way to accommodate a special visitor."
Rice said ships usually fill up on drinking water at the Harbour Authority, but because Esmeralda will be docked at Queen's Wharf during her stay, the city has hooked up one of the ship's hoses to the hydrant at Queen's wharf.
"It's not our regular service port," he explained.
High volume of visitors
The city has only provided this service to one other ship, which was the HMCS Charlottetown.
Like many ships, Esmeralda has its own desalination system, which turns sea water into drinking water, but with so many visitors in such a short period of time, Rice said the boat was in need of a top up.
"It's got 300 people aboard it working. Yesterday it took in 2,000 tourists," he said.
The city is charging the commercial rate for the water it pumps into Esmeralda.
And for those concerned about any more murky water runoff, Rice said it's no longer a problem now that the hydrant has been flushed out.
The tall ship will set sail for Quebec on Friday.