What's up with the smelly pond in Sunset Ridge?

Sunset Ridge residents out enjoying the early spring warmth have been met with a not-so-pleasant smell resonating from one of the community's storm ponds.

"Residents are gonna experience just that little bit of rotten egg smell, which is just vegetation decaying underneath the ice in the Sunset pond right now," says Cochrane Fire Inspector, Jeff Avery. "We're recording the readings every day and they're very low right now. There are definitely no readings that are harmful to human beings or pets."

"We're at the mercy of Mother Nature. Once that ice goes away, the problem is solved."

Cochrane Fire Services are working hard to limit the smell from the melting storm pond (photo via Jeff Avery)

 

Holes have been cut into the pond to dissipate the smell quicker and Avery says this should be the last stinky melt Sunset will have to experience.

"We did try something up in the Willows last year and we put an aeration system in there to keep the water flowing a little bit and that seemed to work."

"Hopefully this is not going to be a problem next year because come springtime, the Roads Department is going to put that aeration system in the Sunset pond as well."

Houses surrounding the pond run a risk of the odour entering through drains. Avery says there are simple fixes to alleviate any issues. 

"What I suggest is that you keep pouring water down your drain, with just a little bit of bleach in the water and that's going to help quite a bit. If you let the U valves in your drain dry out, you will get a little bit of that gas odour in your house."