Nine hundred households and businesses in south Pender Harbour have been boiling their drinking water since last Friday after heavy rains caused run-off that increased the water's turbidity, or cloudiness.
South Pender Harbour Water District (SPHWD) and the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Authority decided to issue the boil water advisory, before bacterial test results were in, when the district's operator detected the chlorine disinfection was not working. On Wednesday afternoon, the advisory was still in effect throughout the entire water district. SPHWD board chair Richard Frappier said three consecutive clear samples would be necessary before the advisory could be lifted. SPHWD water supply comes from McNeil Lake and Haslam Creek.
A chlorine residual test shows whether the chlorine put into the system is working, explained VCH drinking water officer Tim Adams. The residual is what is left over after the chlorine reacts with bacteria and impurities, to show it is maintaining its disinfection.
"They had massive rainfall and the turbidity level went quite high and they just couldn't keep up with the chlorine residual," Adams said. "So we didn't wait for any samples to come back, we just decided that without proper chlorine residual we would put a boil advisory on."
To inform residents, SPHWD board members and community volunteers went door-to-door with the advisory, a phone tree was started, emails were sent out and a notice was posted on the new website www.sphwd.ca.
On Tuesday, Adams said the health centre was advised and it had not received any reports of gastrointestinal illnesses.
In September, VCH ordered SPHWD to meet a number of upgrade requirements, which Frappier said it has now met.
The requirements included a fail safe alarm system to warn of low pressure in the chlorine system and an emergency response plan, which had its pilot implementation last weekend. In addition, the district has a manual of standard operating procedures posted at its chlorination building.
The district presented its draft source-to-tap assessment on drinking water safety and sustainability to various stakeholders Thursday, including representatives from VCH, the public, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Sunshine Coast Regional District. Frappier said the final assessment should be ready for public viewing early next year.
