Dry wells keep N.S. water delivery driver busy

Drought conditions in Nova Scotia are keeping water delivery trucks busy as wells dry up.

Garth Higgins collects cold, clean water at the Halifax Water depot along Highway 224 in the Musquodoboit Valley. He's been working 12 hours a day, seven days a week to keep up with desperate calls for water.

"It's my 19th summer for doing this and it's pretty much the driest I've ever seen it — especially this early," Higgins told CBC News.

One of his stops this week was at the home of Bob and Donna Collings, who were down to less than 30 centimetres of water in their stonewalled well.

Rainwater is usually enough to keep the well topped up, but not this year. Now that it's been filled, the Collingses anticipate they won't need another delivery until autumn.

"When you're on a well and a pump, I don't think people in the city appreciate that to a degree because they usually have an abundance of water — although there are times when they have to cut back," Bob Collings said, referring to Halifax Water's recent directive to conserve.

Collings said he feels like one of the lucky ones.

"I have a son-in-law in Nine Mile River and he says if you can get water, you better get it. Because over [there], people are being denied because they're so busy they can't take any new customers on. So we're lucky to have Garth here for sure," Collings said.

Higgins said he hears from two or three houses each day that are completely out of water. He said those homes get priority in his delivery schedule.

The last time Higgins saw such dry conditions was in 2016 on the South Shore, he said.

"And that was in September. Here we are, the first week into August and we're seeing these conditions now," Higgins said. "We still could have two more months of this."

Despite the long days, Higgins said he's happy to deliver water. His regular job is at a tire plant and he's using vacation time to make the water deliveries.

"At the end of the day, people get their water, flush their toilets and have a normal life again. It sets in quite deep knowing that I can help these people," Higgins said.