Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

Saskatchewan City Under Precautionary Boil-Water Advisory Due To 'Process Error'

The Canadian Press, 13 Aug, 2015 02:03 PM
    NORTH BATTLEFORD, Sask. — Residents of a Saskatchewan city are being told to boil their tap water as a precaution because it might be contaminated.
     
    The Saskatchewan Water Security Agency says the entire city of North Battleford, with a population of about 14,000, is under a precautionary drinking-water advisory.
     
    The advisory says all drinking water — as well as water used for dishwashing, washing fruit and vegetables and brushing teeth — must be brought to a roiling boil for one minute.
     
    "A precautionary drinking-water advisory is if there's a potential for a contaminant or something to happen to the system, not necessarily that it has," water agency spokesman Patrick Boyle said Wednesday.
     
    "An emergency boil-water order means that a contaminant has been confirmed and has entered the system, so in this case with North Battleford, it's just a potential at this point."
     
    Dustin MacDonald, the city's acting communications manager, said partially treated water spilled into treated water at one of North Battleford's treatment plants on Tuesday afternoon. That happened for six minutes before alarms went off and the plant was shut down.
     
    "The partially treated water went through the filter system as well as the ultraviolet disinfection system ... the accepted engineering travel time would indicate that the partially treated water was caught within the water treatment plant, but that needs to be scientifically proven that this water did not reach the water distribution system."
     
    Engineers and city staff were doing tests and analyzing data on Wednesday to determine how far the water got, said MacDonald.
     
    "Safety of our residents and visitors is our main concern, and we are working closely with the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency and the Prairie North Regional Health Authority," the city said in a news release late Wednesday afternoon.
     
    "We encourage people to comply with the precautionary drinking water advisory that was issued. Additional water quality testing is underway. At this point it appears it will take two or three days to ensure safe drinking water through further actions and monitoring."
     
    The city said operational error was the cause.
     
    About 8,000 litres of water goes through the system in six minutes — enough to fill about eight hot tubs, MacDonald said.
     
    More than 7,000 North Battleford residents became sick in 2001 when a parasite called cryptosporidium entered the water supply during routine maintenance of a chemical filter.
     
    Lab tests confirmed 361 cases of illness. No one died.
     
    An inquiry into the outbreak concluded the city systematically failed to recognize its responsibilities for the water supply.
     
    An inquiry report also criticized the province's Environment Department as being an ''inadequate and ineffective'' regulator. The city's water treatment plant had not been inspected by the province for 10 years.
     
    At least 800 people who sued over the outbreak reached out-of-court settlements paid by the city and the Saskatchewan government.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Experts Weigh In After Chris Hyndman's Mother's 'Sleepwalking' Suggestion

    Experts Weigh In After Chris Hyndman's Mother's 'Sleepwalking' Suggestion
    Glenda Hyndman told the Toronto Star that she believed her son fell to his death while sleepwalking on the terrace of the downtown Toronto home he shared with his professional and personal partner Steven Sabados. 

    Experts Weigh In After Chris Hyndman's Mother's 'Sleepwalking' Suggestion

    Police Investigate Horrific Stabbing Incidents In East Vancouver And Burnaby That Sent 4 To Hospital

    Police Investigate Horrific Stabbing Incidents In East Vancouver And Burnaby That Sent 4 To Hospital
     Police in Metro Vancouver are dealing with the aftermath of a violent Friday night after two separate stabbings sent four men to hospital.

    Police Investigate Horrific Stabbing Incidents In East Vancouver And Burnaby That Sent 4 To Hospital

    Indo-Canadian Man Gurnazbir Singh Sandhu, 25, Charged In A Major Calgary Drug Bust

    Indo-Canadian Man Gurnazbir Singh Sandhu, 25, Charged In A Major Calgary Drug Bust
    Sandhu, 25, and his accomplice Richard Julies Rysdale, 28 were arrested in from their Taradale city apartment with the help of Canada Border Services Agency

    Indo-Canadian Man Gurnazbir Singh Sandhu, 25, Charged In A Major Calgary Drug Bust

    UBC President Arvind Gupta Leaves Top Job After A Year As Interim President Takes Over

    UBC President Arvind Gupta Leaves Top Job After A Year As Interim President Takes Over
    The university says in a news release that Gupta will return to his academic career as a computer science professor at UBC

    UBC President Arvind Gupta Leaves Top Job After A Year As Interim President Takes Over

    B.C. Man Says He Killed Ex-girlfriend Because She Was Possessed By A Demon

    B.C. Man Says He Killed Ex-girlfriend Because She Was Possessed By A Demon
    Christopher Butler has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Deanne Wheeler

    B.C. Man Says He Killed Ex-girlfriend Because She Was Possessed By A Demon

    Partner Of Pregnant Woman Found Dead Near Montreal Charged With First-Degree Murder

    Partner Of Pregnant Woman Found Dead Near Montreal Charged With First-Degree Murder
    SAINT-HYACINTHE, Que. — The partner of a pregnant woman found dead in her home near Montreal has been charged with first-degree murder.

    Partner Of Pregnant Woman Found Dead Near Montreal Charged With First-Degree Murder